Against All Odds
by JGirl26
Summary: Now that Sarah's found what she never knew she needed, will she be able to hold onto it? **Story is currently on hiatus and is unfinished.**
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** The Sarah Connor Chronicles and its characters are the property of James Cameron and Fox. No infringement intended.

**Spoilers:** Mostly AU but has some references to events in Season 1.

**Summary:** Now that Sarah's found what she never knew she needed, will she be able to hold onto it?

**Authors Note:** This is a sequel to my first ever story "Beyond All Reason" and although it's not really necessary to read that to understand this one there are minor references to past events from the other story.

This is written purely for my own enjoyment and if anybody else happens to enjoy it as much as I did writing it then...yay!

As always, thanks to my awesome beta reader Dru for without her input I'd be forever lost. Any mistakes that still exist are all mine...and I will selfishly keep them :p

Comments/feedback are welcomed.

**Part One**

The rain was coming down in sheets, battering against Sarah's thin jersey as she plodded along the darkened alleyway, pockets of light showing here and there from the windows above her head. Pulling the jersey tightly against her, Sarah trudged along despondently, head hung low as she gave up the effort in trying to stay dry.

Sarah shivered lightly as the wind whipped around her thin frame, making the rain drops sting wherever they hit her uncovered flesh. Looking up warily to gauge her whereabouts, Sarah sighed wearily, cursing that she had forgotten her umbrella and knowing that she still had a few good blocks to go before she would reach home.

Shivering again at the cold, Sarah pushed her wet hair off her face, sighing in small relief as she spotted a covered doorway. Rushing as quickly as she could to stand under the awning, Sarah gave thanks in finally being able to escape the relentless pounding dragging at her clothes, hair and skin. Leaning against the wall heavily, Sarah closed her eyes briefly, feeling the tiredness from her late shift at the restaurant sweep through her small frame. Shivering again at the coldness Sarah hugged her bag against her tighter, trying to find some measure of warmth no matter how meagre it was.

Tensing suddenly, Sarah flicked her gaze out to the distance, hearing muted footsteps approaching slowly amongst the thundering of the rain. Pulling herself back further into the shadows of the doorway, Sarah hoped and prayed that they would just pass her by. Alone at night in a darkened alleyway, sounds muted by heavy rain was not really a safe place to be, especially for a woman alone.

Holding her breath, Sarah could hear the footsteps coming closer, their heaviness making the tension in her body rise in alarm. Gripping tightly to her bag, Sarah closed her eyes, trying to shrink further into the shadows as she waited for them to pass her by.

Feeling her heart beat in triple time as the footsteps slowed and then come to a halt in front of the doorway entrance; Sarah started to shiver again, whether from fear or the cold she didn't know. Turning her head reluctantly, Sarah spotted a sturdy looking man blocking the entrance. Looking up into black soul less eyes Sarah knew this was her end as an arm stretched forward and grabbed her by the throat before it had even occurred to her to scream for help.

Kicking and struggling futilely against the hold around her throat, Sarah dropped her bag with a thud onto the concrete floor. Gurgling and gasping for air, Sarah could only wonder why. What had she done to the man holding her life in his hands that he would want to hurt her?

"Sarah Connor?" The voice was emotionless as the man tilted his head at her in silent query.

Seeing the rain drops running in rivulets down the smooth features, almost like marble in their appearance, Sarah continued struggling as her fingers clawed weakly against the iron grip around her throat.

"You are Sarah Connor?" The mechanical voice repeated, his eyes cold and dark, the fingers around Sarah's throat clenching even more tightly.

Sarah could do nothing but feel the air escaping from her lungs as the pressure increased around her throat. Knowing that her life was coming to an end, Sarah could only close her eyes and say a silent prayer; screaming was impossible against the tightness.

_Target Identification: Sarah Connor_

_Mission: Terminate_

The terminator stood in silent appraisal as he ran a scan on the features in front of him, comparing them to the one programmed into his chip. Flicking his wrists in a quick jerk, the terminator felt the body slumping in a heap as the life drained from her suddenly, the struggling ceasing just as abruptly in his firm grip.

Dropping the now lifeless woman carelessly onto the cold concrete floor like a discarded dish rag, the terminator gave one last glance and turned back the way he had come. This was not the Sarah Connor he was looking for.

…

"Sarah."

Sarah mumbled incoherently at the soft noise and warm breath against her ear as she turned her head away from the annoyance.

"Sarah," Cameron repeated softly as she rose on one arm to murmur softly against the other exposed ear, her lips sucking softly on the outer rim. "John is standing over us and waiting to speak to you."

Cameron masked her face into blandness as Sarah gave a sudden jerk and sat up abruptly wrapping the sheet around her naked form, her face in a wild panic.

Glancing around groggily to spot an empty room and no John standing beside her bed, Sarah turned an annoyed scowl towards Cameron. Cameron returned the scowl with a small smile she could not hide at Sarah's hair in wild disarray, the cute scowl on her face and the sheet clutched firmly to her chest.

"That's not funny Cameron," Sarah grumbled harshly as she took in the small smile and reached over to whack Cameron lightly on the arm. Falling back on the bed in relief Sarah's scowl was firmly on her face as she stared up at the bedroom ceiling in annoyance.

Cameron leaned over and pulled the sheet slowly down Sarah's body to reveal smooth tantalising skin. Peppering soft kisses onto Sarah's left shoulder Cameron trailed a wet tongue down to Sarah's breast and then capturing the hardened nipple into her hot mouth she suckled softly, unperturbed at Sarah's annoyance with her.

"You said I needed to work on my humour Sarah." Cameron murmured softly as she moved over to the other breast to give it the same attention, feeling Sarah's stiff body slowly relax at her ministrations, hearing Sarah's breath catch in her throat.

"_**That**_ was not humour girlie...that...that was just...mean," Sarah whined softly as she felt her body responding to Cameron's torturous mouth and tongue. Looking down to meet warm golden brown, Sarah could feel the last vestiges of her displeasure at Cameron's rude awakening ebbing from her body.

Cameron remained silent as her kisses increased in pressure, moving from Sarah's chest, to her throat. Feeling the rumbling vibrations coursing through her body as Sarah groaned softly, Cameron quickly clambered onto her knees to straddle Sarah's thigh, her lips never leaving Sarah's skin. Placing her arms on either side of Sarah's head, Cameron captured Sarah's lips firmly against her own as she leaned down closer, feeling Sarah's soft breasts crushing against hers. Flicking in an insistent tongue between slightly parted lips, Cameron could only revel in the feel of Sarah's tongue intertwining with hers.

Breaking away from the demanding kiss, Sarah could only gasp in ragged breaths as she felt Cameron's warm body resting lightly on top of hers, knowing that Cameron was balancing herself so she wouldn't hurt her with her weight. Placing a hand gently against a soft cheek and caressing gently, Sarah gazed into warm eyes shining with love.

"You know I should still be mad at you," Sarah murmured softly as her other hand began to draw light circles against Cameron's shoulder. "That was _**not**_ a nice way to wake up."

"I was working on my humour as you told me to do Sarah." Cameron lifted herself up slightly to pull away the sheet separating Sarah's body from hers. Feeling all of Sarah's naked flesh against her own, Cameron began nuzzling at Sarah's throat again, her fingers trailing light caresses across a toned stomach. Continuing further down Sarah's body Cameron's hand came to rest firmly between Sarah's thighs her fingers already feeling the wetness pooling there.

"Cameron…" Sarah could only close her eyes as her body started to respond urgently, feeling the arousal zinging all the way down to her toes. Moving her body against Cameron's searching fingers eagerly Sarah gripped both hands on to Cameron's shoulders to pull the girl down, needing to feel the contact of Cameron's body more solidly. "…you're going to kill me."

Tasting Cameron's lips now pushing firmly against her mouth again, the girl's tongue demanding entrance Sarah was amazed that she could still feel like this, that her body was still reacting to Cameron as if it was the first time they had made love. No matter how many times she had had the girl in her bed; Sarah could still never seem to get enough.

Wrapping her legs around Cameron's waist, Sarah's thoughts became jumbled, her body now moving in an urgent pace against Cameron's fingers as the pressure inside her began to build. Breaking away from the kiss to catch her breath, Sarah tightened her grip around Cameron's neck as she began to suck feverishly at the crook of Cameron's shoulder.

Balancing her entire weight on one arm and knees, Cameron increased the pressure of her own rocking body against Sarah's thigh, hearing Sarah's breathing hitching in her throat as warm lips and teeth started to bite softly into her skin. Revelling in the feel of Sarah under her, the soft curves moving in sync with her own body, Cameron's synapses began to burn, her vision fading at the sensations overwhelming her senses.

"Cameron...Cameron...oh God...Cameron," Sarah mumbled incoherently as she felt the pressure building even more inside her body, her blood boiling like liquid lava. Feeling her stomach muscles clench in sudden spasms, Sarah closed her eyes as she released a muffled groan into the crook of Cameron's neck. Feeling Cameron's body suddenly tense against hers, Sarah bit down into the tempting flesh as wave after wave of melting heat expanded throughout her body.

"Sarah," Cameron groaned softly as she felt Sarah's teeth on her skin, her body tensing in rigidity as fiery sparks of electrical currents began to overwhelm her entire being consuming her in their intensity.

"Now _**that**_ is a better way to wake up." Sarah grinned tiredly as she released her tight grip from around Cameron's neck and unwound her trembling legs from around Cameron's waist, feeling her body relaxing as the melting heat slowly eased from her frame. Bestowing a warm smile onto Cameron as the girl shifted off atop her to lie gently against her side, Sarah placed a loving kiss onto reddened lips as Cameron's fingers began a gentle stroking pattern on her stomach.

"But you really are going to kill me you know."

Cameron's features turned into a sudden frown at Sarah's teasing admonishment feeling something akin to guilt at her continuous ravishing of Sarah's body but she could not help it. Just seeing Sarah lying here beside her naked, the expanse of tempting flesh being displayed, Cameron was gripped with a desire so strong, she just had to feel the woman under her, against her. The need was so overwhelming in its intensity it shook Cameron right to her core. She could not get enough of Sarah.

"I have calculated that for a woman of your age, you only need 6 hours sleep. It has already been 6 hours Sarah."

"Are you trying to tell me that I'm old?" Scowling suddenly Sarah shifted slightly onto her side to give Cameron a mocking glare.

"No. I think you are beautiful Sarah." Cameron's expression was awed as she bent her head to place a soft kiss against Sarah's scowling lips. "I am saying that 6 hours of sleep is all that you require."

"Not when we stay up all night doing strenuous activities Cameron." Sarah rolled her eyes at the expression in front of her, wondering how Cameron could think she was beautiful first thing in the morning when the girl lying next to her was the picture of model perfection herself.

"Are you saying that you want me to...stop...making love to you Sarah?" Cameron's head was now tilted quizzically trying to decipher Sarah's words.

Sarah sighed heartily, knowing that she should shut up now before Cameron decided that she _**wasn't**_ actually getting enough sleep and would stop their lovemaking activities all together to give her some much needed rest. When it came to her welfare Cameron was dogged in her stubbornness to look after her.

"No Cameron, I'm not. I'm just saying that unlike you, I do need my sleep to look my best. Not all of us can wake up in the morning and look as perfect as when they went to bed regardless of what they were doing all night."

Cameron fell silent, her gaze raking up and down Sarah's body in obvious appreciation. "But you** are** perfect Sarah."

Sarah's heart melted at the words and the appreciative look bestowed lovingly into her eyes. "Now _**that**_ girlie just gave you a free pass for the rude awakening earlier."

Reaching up slightly Sarah placed a firm kiss against soft lips, feeling herself beginning to drown in the sudden rush of desire coursing through her body all over again. It was amazing these feelings she had for the girl...amazing and scary all at the same time. She had never felt like this before, not even for Kyle Reese. Her need and desire for Cameron was so annihilating in their passion it was like an obsession she could feel herself getting lost in.

"Mom? You up? Can you come out here?" John's troubled voice filtered through her lustful haze as she felt Cameron responding to her kiss just as urgently.

Breaking away from the kiss, Sarah blushed hotly, having forgotten all about John and the outside world in her passionate rediscovery of Cameron.

"I'll be out soon John," Sarah shouted in reply, sighing wearily as she flopped back down onto the mattress with a thud, exhaling softly, "And the world beckons."

Cameron remained silent at the softly spoken words, not needing to say anything to understand Sarah's weariness. This was their life and she had accepted it, as long as she got to spend it with the woman she adored it was enough for her.

…

John sighed as he sat at the kitchen table waiting impatiently, the morning newspaper strewn across the table top. Glancing at the article again, John gave another weary sigh knowing that his mother was definitely not going to like this.

He had known that the quiet of late that they had all been living in was borrowed time, feeling the reality of their lives waiting patiently on the side-lines like a cancerous growth. Scowling at the article again, John could only wonder what this new development was going to bring them.

Since the tumultuous events of Cameron's awakening sentient-ness, getting flipped and then her desire to leave them, John had been extremely happy that things had settled into a quiet routine. His mother had been more relaxed and happier than he had ever seen her, her easy smiles and wide grin indicating that things with Cameron were progressing along nicely.

And John was glad; more than glad actually, he was ecstatic. It soothed his troubled soul and eased his stiff shoulders to know that his mother had someone to look after her, to take care of her. John Connor should not be the only important person in this world; Sarah Connor was just as important, more so really than him if he was to survive to be the man that he was destined to become.

It surprised him sometimes though, Sarah's relationship with Cameron. John would have snorted in derision if anyone were to suggest a year ago that his mother would fall in love with a cybernetic organism, but now seeing them together, seeing his mother's interactions with Cameron, it made sense. He could see genuine love and affection between the two and it lightened his heart to know that it was possible to find something like that in these troubled times.

"Good morning John." Startled alert from his internal musings, John glanced over towards Cameron as she entered the kitchen, her gait light and easy as she automatically walked over to start the coffee machine.

"Morning Cameron, is Mom coming out yet?" John got up and started to gather the mess of the paper on the table, placing the article he wanted Sarah to read on top of the pile.

"Sarah will be out soon, she is having a shower."

Studying the girl critically as she continued to rustle around in the cupboards and the fridge in preparation of making their morning breakfast, John could see the easy fluidity and grace rolling off her trim frame. Cameron's movements were becoming less and less mechanical as the days and weeks progressed as she became more comfortable in her human body and her relationship with his mother.

John found it amusing and endearing that Cameron had taken on cooking duties as one of her responsibilities in the Connor household. She made sure that Sarah ate when it was required and definitely made Sarah aware that her normal habit of missing meals was not going to be tolerated, if one of their legendary arguments that John had managed to eavesdrop on was anything to go by.

Although the fare that Cameron offered was simple, John wasn't complaining, it beat having cereal every morning and his mother's cooking. Laughing at the absurdity of a terminator wielding a spatula with serious intent John could only shake his head in amused disbelief.

"So what's for breakfast this morning Cameron?" John queried with a small smirk as he settled himself back into his chair continuing to watch Cameron's dexterity with the kitchen utensils.

"Pancakes," Cameron replied promptly, her concentration now on the sizzling pan in front of her.

"You know Cameron, ever since you've been forcing me to eat, I'm sure I've gained at least 5kgs," Sarah interrupted the conversation as she sauntered into the kitchen with feigned annoyance at the girl standing in front of the stove.

Turning around and walking to the coffee machine Cameron silently poured the liquid into a mug and handed it to Sarah with a bland expression on her face, "You are too skinny."

Sarah rolled her eyes at the words, knowing that arguing with Cameron was pointless. She had already tried and the spectacular argument that had ensued had only left Sarah with a splitting migraine and a guilty conscience. Going along with Cameron's wishes to fatten her up seemed to be far less troublesome and stress free.

Taking the coffee with an aggrieved huff, Sarah blushed lightly as Cameron bestowed a soft kiss on to her cheek. Ignoring John's eye roll and his amused smirk, Sarah sat down opposite him at the table. She was still trying to get used to the casual display of affection in front of John.

"Mom, you have to read this." John's amusement vanished as his face settled into a concerned frown, not wanting to interrupt the light hearted atmosphere.

Sarah turned towards John, her body stiffening slightly at his tone. Grabbing the paper out of his hands, she quickly scanned the article the paper was folded on.

Cameron removed the pan from the element and strode over towards Sarah, her demeanour one of concern as she spotted Sarah's tenseness. Reading the article over Sarah's shoulder, Cameron also stiffened, her face masking itself into icy coldness at the words.

_Last night the body of a young woman was found by an early morning street cleaner in an alley off Olive Street. Police are still canvassing the neighbourhood for any witnesses to the event but are appealing to any members of the public to come forward with any relevant information._

_The woman has been identified as Sarah Connor._

Sarah frowned in consternation at her name staring up at her in silent accusation, foregoing reading the rest of the article as the words in print scoured valleys of guilt into her conscience. Standing up in agitation Sarah walked out of the kitchen in silence, her tread heavy and tired as she ignored both Cameron and John, banging the door behind her in constrained anger.

Striding towards the swing set in agitation, Sarah drew back her foot and kicked it, hard, feeling the contact reverberate up her leg. Screaming in frustrated anger Sarah kicked the standing swing again trying to release the building tension she could feel settling into her shoulders.

"Sarah."

Hearing Cameron's concerned voice behind her Sarah reigned in her emotions, feeling a weary tiredness settle into her conscience.

"I'm fine Cameron; I just need a minute to be alone." Sitting herself down on the swing, Sarah buried her head in trembling hands, the guilt eating at her insides.

Cameron knelt down slowly in front of Sarah, her face creased in concern at the woman's obvious distress, wanting to soothe away her worries but knowing that she could not. Feeling helpless in making Sarah feel better, Cameron gently removed Sarah's hands from her face and stared into stormy green eyes filled with sadness and resignation.

"Cameron, don't...just...just let me be for a minute." Turning her face away from Cameron, Sarah pushed away her guilt at seeing the hurt flash briefly into Cameron's eyes before the girl masked her face into a blankness that made Sarah shiver. She knew she was shutting Cameron out but she couldn't deal with her guilt over the unknown woman's death at the hands of a terminator and have Cameron comfort her at the same time.

Cameron stood up slowly and stepped back to stare down at Sarah's stooped form, her face now hiding her emotions at Sarah's refusal to let her in and help. The woman may have confessed to loving and needing her but Cameron doubted sometimes if Sarah had truly accepted her for what she was made of.

"I didn't kill that woman Sarah." Turning away Cameron strode back to the house, her posture stiff, her hands clenched tightly into fists at her sides.

Hearing the softly spoken words Sarah's face turned into a frown as she made to call Cameron back, to apologise over treating her like just another machine. But with the reminder of another innocent death on her hand's and the stark reality of Skynet asserting itself into their lives again, Sarah remained mute, her eyes the only indication of her distress as she caught Cameron's rigid form and the heaviness to the girl's steps.

…

John watched his mother warily through the kitchen window, wincing slightly as he saw her kick forcefully at the swing. Giving Cameron a brief glance as she closed the back door softly behind her and make her way over to where Sarah was standing, John ran a weary hand through his hair.

Continuing to watch through the kitchen window silently John's frown increased as Cameron stood up rigidly to stare down at his mother blankly, Cameron's posture clearly showing her displeasure. Wondering what his mother had said to Cameron to make her react like that, John could only curse Sarah's actions silently.

John had known that his mother was still feeling guilty over loving the girl but he had thought she had gotten over that already. If he could accept that Sarah Connor was in love with a cybernetic organism, why couldn't she?


	2. Chapter 2

_**Authors Note:**__ I'm kinda losing my enthusiasm for this story at the moment. I've got at least 9 chapters already written but every time I re-read them I'm not liking it more and more, it's going in a direction that I can't seem to get away from :( Bloody thing has a mind of its own I tell you. Depending on how much interest there is for more, I probably won't be doing that much of an update at the moment until I can make the characters do what I want them to do._

_Plus, it's kinda disheartening that my stories are being read but no one's really taking the time to feedback. That's what feeds an author's imagination and dedication people :)_

**Part Two**

"No Sarah."

John closed his eyes as he heard the words come out of Cameron's mouth seeing his mother's stiff shoulders in reaction to the firm denial.

After an afternoon of tracking down all the Sarah Connor's in Los Angeles, he had managed to narrow it down to two women who were of similar age and features to his mother. Once having the information Sarah had decided it would be easier if they were brought back to stay with them for a while for their own safety until the terminator could be destroyed. Cameron had been silent throughout the plan, her face bland and passive until his mother got to the part where Cameron was to go with him instead of her. That's when Cameron's features had tightened into a cold mask, her displeasure at the words radiating off her body in waves.

Watching the stand-off in wary concern, John knew this was not going to be good.

Derek having been updated in regards to the new threat as soon as he had arrived was now standing to the side-lines in the tense sitting room with a look of boredom on his face. He wasn't too concerned with the argument, Cameron was always arguing with Sarah when she felt the woman's safety was at stake. He just wished they would hurry up already so he could go shoot something.

"Cameron, this is the best plan we've got. I _**cannot**_ allow more people to die because of me." Sarah could only sigh in weary tiredness, Cameron's over-protectiveness already causing a migraine behind her eyes. Plus the fact that Cameron appeared to be avoiding her and had hardly said two words to her for most of the day were driving pangs of discontent into Sarah's bones.

"They are not your concern Sarah. It will only endanger you if you seek them out. You cannot protect everyone." Cameron's voice was bland but firm, unwavering in her desire to make Sarah see sense.

"They _**are**_ my concern Cameron, why should they die just because they share my name? That is unacceptable and I'm not going to let your babying of me stop what I have to do." Sarah turned away hating Cameron's expressionless features; it was hard enough doing what she had to do without Cameron fighting her as well.

"Since there are two Sarah Connor's we have to split up. You need to go with John and I need to go with Derek. It makes more sense and that's what you're about isn't it Cameron? Making sense and being logical?"

Cameron remained silent as she studied Sarah, seeing the agitation in her form and hearing the stress and sarcasm in her voice.

"Then I will go with you." Cameron voiced blandly choosing to ignore Sarah's confrontational tone.

Sarah sighed again; they had been going around in circles, Cameron refusing to see sense in her blind stubbornness to protect her.

"Cameron, a single women will not even let two strange men close enough to talk to them never mind going anywhere with them."

Sarah really did not want to lose her temper but having Cameron crowding her was driving her insane. Humouring Cameron's idiosyncrasies when it came to her welfare at home was one thing, humouring her when it came to her mission to stop Skynet was something entirely different.

"And will you just stop with the over protective thing already? I've been doing this for sixteen years Cameron and I've survived this long. I _**do not**_ need you to look out for me ok? I can protect myself so stop trying to babysit me and just do as I say for once!"

Cameron remained rigid in her silence, her displeasure at Sarah's words plainly evident in her stony glare.

John stiffened at his mother's words, knowing that she was close to erupting in a full out temper tantrum and that Cameron would bear the brunt of it. Catching Derek's eye roll, John sighed and signalled silently for Derek to follow him out of the room. They did not need to witness another spectacular showdown. Casting one last apprehensive glance towards Sarah, John could only hope that his mother remembered that Cameron's stubbornness was only really out of concern for her safety.

"Well Cameron? Are you going to do as I say or not?" Sarah knew she was being harsh but she did not have the time for this. Two lives were in danger and she did not have the patience to cajole Cameron into seeing sense, no matter how much she loved the girl.

"You keep on forgetting that I do not follow your orders Sarah," Cameron's features turned icy as she continued to glare at Sarah, "Sometimes, you make it difficult to love you." And with that Cameron turned and stormed out of the room, her back ramrod straight in her anger and frustration at Sarah's unwillingness to see reason.

"Well shit, that went well." Cursing softly to herself Sarah sighed and closed her eyes as she felt instant guilt swarming through her body at Cameron's words and seeing the girl stalk off in her anger. Sometimes, she really hated being Sarah Connor and all that that entailed.

…

The terminator cocked his head to the side as he stood perfectly still outside the back door listening for any sounds inside the house. Running a quick scan the machine confirmed there was only one occupant by the body heat he could see emanating from within. Glancing around outside to make sure no one was witnessing his entry, the terminator grasped the handle and twisted, the knob breaking in his hand easily as he entered silently.

Making his way through the spotless kitchen, the white nearly gleaming from constant cleaning or non-usage, the machine strode purposefully pass the island bench to the exit at the other end. Pausing briefly and cocking his head again, the terminator looked up the stairs, his eyes running continuous scans inside his head.

Satisfied that his target was still upstairs, the terminator slowly climbed the steps towards the body heat. Ignoring the photo frames show casing smiling people on the walls, the terminator had only one thought in mind as he continued his ascent; find Sarah Connor and terminate her.

As the rustling of someone moving up ahead came closer, the terminator turned towards the noise and locked his gaze resolutely in front of him. Walking further down the hallway and spotting the form of a woman through the bedroom door in front of him, the terminator strode forward.

Seeing the woman freeze and readying as if to scream when she saw his approach, the terminator ran forward quickly to grasp her around the throat and lifting her up easily the machine slammed her into the nearby wall.

"Sarah Connor?" The terminator tilted his head as he ran a scan on the woman's features, ignoring her panicked look of fear as she struggled futilely in his hand.

The woman's eyes bulged in fear and lack of oxygen, her finger's clawing ineffectually against the hand around her throat, her legs kicking weakly at his chest. Desperately trying to get air into her lungs, the woman could see her vision slowly fading as the blackness began to slowly creep around the edges.

_Target Identification: Sarah Connor_

_Mission: Terminate_

With a flick of his wrist, the woman stopped struggling as her body became limp and lifeless, her neck jutting at an odd angle. Dropping her to the floor like a discarded rag doll, the terminator turned and strode out of the room. This was not the Sarah Connor he was looking for.

…

John didn't need to be a rocket scientist to know that Cameron was worried and frustrated. Sitting beside her in the passenger seat, Cameron's form was stiff and unyielding as she navigated the truck expertly through downtown traffic, her face an impenetrable mask.

Settling back into his seat more comfortably, John continued his silent perusal of the girl, wondering if he should say something or just let Cameron and his mother work it out on their own.

"Yes John?" Taking her eyes off the road briefly, Cameron turned towards him, her bland face showing no emotion as she raised an eyebrow in enquiry. "You have been staring at me for 2 minutes and 23 seconds now. Is there something I can help you with?"

John sighed and rolled his eyes, "You know that Mom's just upset right? She doesn't mean to get all pissy at you."

Cameron's focus remained on the road as if not hearing John's words but her grip on the steering wheel tightened in reaction.

"Sarah does not want me to help her. She does not...let me in."

John closed his eyes at the hesitant words; he didn't like how his mother was treating Cameron either.

"You have to understand Cameron; Mom reacts negatively when she's feeling cornered or guilty. It doesn't justify her actions but it does explain it. She doesn't mean to be demanding and bullying but that's who she is. Just give her some space."

"I cannot help wanting to protect Sarah John, it...distresses me to see Sarah hurt." Cameron's words were clipped and strained at the idea of Sarah getting hurt.

"Me too Cameron but you can't be with her one hundred per cent of the time. If you keep crowding her, she'll just explode at you again like she did earlier." Turning back to Cameron, John softened his features at the girl's still obvious distress.

Placing a hand lightly on Cameron's arm, her hand gripping the steering wheel rigidly, John gave it a firm reassuring squeeze, "Mom still loves you Cameron but you know how Mom is. She's not too good with the coddling."

Cameron relaxed marginally at John's words as he dropped his hand and turned back to the road, silence once again falling inside the truck. Pulling into the road that would take them to the unknown Sarah Connor's abode, Cameron could only focus on her own Sarah and hoping that the woman was safe and wasn't doing anything foolish.

"Well this looks like a nice neighbourhood doesn't it?" John commented softly as rows of well-kept two storey houses came into view, each one similar to the other. All the lawns were well maintained and the quietness of the neighbourhood was testament to the fact that it was a work week and mostly everyone would not be at home.

Cameron remained silent as she parked the car two houses down from their intended target. Turning the car off and hopping out, Cameron stowed her 9mm as discretely as possible behind her back between the band of her jeans and shut the door firmly. Walking over towards John waiting on the footpath, Cameron ran a scan around the neighbourhood, her sensors not picking up anything out of the ordinary.

Following silently behind Cameron, John was relieved that the neighbourhood was relatively quiet and hoped that their presence would not be too suspicious amongst the up market houses.

Reaching the house that belonged to Sarah Connor, John casually glanced around again before following Cameron through the gate and down the path to the front door. Ringing the door bell and waiting patiently for an answer, John raised a curious eyebrow to Cameron knowing that the girl had already scanned the interior of the house.

"There is a body upstairs John," Cameron murmured softly as she stepped away from the front door and walked around to the back through a side gate.

Placing his hand on his gun behind his back for comfort as he followed after Cameron, John pulled it out as soon as he stepped through the gate into the backyard. John's grip tightened on the handle of the gun as he spotted the broken remnants of the door knob on the ground and the door slightly ajar. Glancing to Cameron with a worried frown and catching her glassy eyes in return, John knew this was not going to be good.

Cameron pushed the back door open further and entered silently, her eyes continuing to run scans around the inside of the house. Heading straight for the stairs, Cameron swiftly took the steps two at a time, hearing John's muted footsteps on the carpet following after her. Once at the top of the stairs, Cameron turned towards the bedroom at the end of the hallway, her sensors having already seen the slumped body of the woman lying inside.

Avoiding his gaze at the happy family portraits lining the walls as he ascended the stairs, John knew in his gut that the woman known as Sarah Connor was dead. Pushing down his guilt and remorse at another innocent killing, John's grip tightened even more around the butt of his gun as he entered the bedroom after Cameron. Watching the girl bend and gently roll the lying woman over onto her back John could only close his eyes at the blank open eyes staring back at him and the finger marks around her bruised neck.

"She is dead." Cameron's voice was bland and emotionless but John could detect a trace of anger in her tone as she stood back up onto her feet quickly throwing him a hard stare.

"We need to get out of here," John replied urgently as he turned away from the dead body before him to glance wildly at Cameron in panic, knowing that the woman's blank open eyes would haunt him in his nightmares for a while. "We need to go check on Mom."

Cameron stiffened at the words as she quickly followed after John, knowing that he was correct. If it was her she would already be going to the next Sarah Connor's location.

Cameron's features were hard and icy as she pushed away the debilitating thought of maybe being too late to save her Sarah as she overtook John in a dead sprint towards the truck, not caring anymore whether or not they were seen.

…

Sarah reached her hand out and knocked firmly on the front door, casting a wary eye around her surroundings. Taking note of Derek sitting in the truck a few houses down, Sarah waited patiently as she heard the sound of footsteps approaching from behind the door.

As the door began to open Sarah heard Derek's frantic shout of warning and then the sound of a gun going off from behind her. Going on instinct, Sarah pushed her way into the house and body slammed the startled woman in front of her, feeling a searing pain in her right shoulder as she dropped to the ground on top of the woman. Gripping the woman tightly in her arms Sarah rolled to the side, slamming the front door closed behind her with a loud bang.

Flinching at the bullets whizzing through the door to leave gaping holes behind, Sarah stood up quickly as the gun shots ceased suddenly and dragged the woman along with her. Sarah could feel the adrenaline coursing through her body fuelling her determination to push away the pain from the bullet that had grazed her shoulder.

"I don't have time to explain Sarah, so just do as I say. Run!" With that command Sarah gave a forceful push to the woman's back as a hand and then foot came crashing through the door.

Ignoring the wild frightened eyes in front of her, Sarah gave another push as the woman hesitated, "If you want to live, run!"

Following the now moving woman as quickly as she could, Sarah pulled her gun from behind her back and pausing briefly, turned and fired off a few rounds into the terminators chest before running after the woman again.

"We need to get out of here, now!"

As they made their way to the glass slider doors at the back, Sarah could see Derek running up to it, his face showing his apprehension as his gaze was directed behind Sarah to see the approaching terminator.

Seeing Derek raise his shotgun, Sarah grabbed a hold of the woman's shoulders and tackled her to the ground again as a shot rang out and the glass doors in front shattered into pieces in front of them. Sarah cursed as she swiftly jumped up and pulled the now shocked woman up with her. With no time to explain her presence and the terminator chasing them, Sarah could only hope that the woman would continue with her silent acceptance of the situation for now as she held her hand firmly and pulled her along behind her.

"Take her!" Sarah shouted frantically as she jammed her gun back into the front of her jeans and pushed the woman into Derek's arms. Grabbing the shotgun from Derek's outstretched hands; Sarah quickly cocked the shotgun and turned, firing at the same time into the still approaching terminator.

Moving back slowly as she kept firing at the terminator, his steps stumbling at each hit to his chest, Sarah cursed again as the shotgun suddenly clicked loudly in the ringing silence.

Seeing Derek hesitate with the woman still firmly in his grasp, Sarah turned a quick glare back at him, "Get the fuck out of here Derek, now!"

Seeing Derek out of the corner of her eyes finally pushing the woman in front of him roughly to get her moving again, Sarah turned around and swung the shotgun at the approaching terminators head.

"Fuck!" Sarah shouted as the machine raised a hand and stopped the force of the swing nonchalantly, feeling the impact reverberate down to her toes.

Letting go of the shotgun, Sarah turned and prepared to run but was stopped short as a hand clamped down firmly on to her left ankle. Kicking wildly to get free Sarah felt the machine give a sharp tug and suddenly found herself lying on her back, winded, as her head hit the lawn with a solid thump. Feeling her shoulder flare in protest at the rough treatment, Sarah groggily shook her head, trying to clear the stars floating in front of her eyes as the terminator grabbed a hold of her other ankle and pulled.

Kicking both of her feet in a panicked desperation to get free of the machines grasp, Sarah turned onto her stomach trying to add leverage to her struggle as she rose onto her hands. Feeling firm hands on her shoulders, Sarah turned around to see the terminators blank expression in front of her, its malevolent eyes burning a dull red.

Squirming and kicking as hard as she could, Sarah reached into her pants and pulled out her gun. Releasing the safety, Sarah raised the gun up to the terminators cheek and fired, point blank, feeling the kickback reverberate up her arm and down her body. Breathing a quick sigh of relief as the machine stumbled back at the impact and the hold around her shoulders suddenly gone, Sarah quickly scrambled to her feet.

Gripping the gun firmly in her hand Sarah turned to run, only to be stopped short again as a hand clamped firmly down on her right shoulder, making her stumble to her knees in sudden pain. Letting out an involuntary scream in reaction to the pain now thudding forcefully in her shoulder, Sarah willed it away and turned around to land on her back as she readied the gun to fire again.

Before she could press the trigger however, Sarah suddenly saw the terminator being lifted off his feet and flung half way across the back yard. Letting out a relieved breath at the sight of Cameron's rigid back standing in front of her, Sarah scrambled to her feet as she caught John's panicked form running up to her from the back gate.

"Mom!"

"Run Sarah." Cameron's voice was firm and hard as she continued to glare at the approaching terminator in front of her. Striding forward with determined steps, Cameron struck out with her right fist hitting the machine solidly on the jaw, his head whipping back at the impact.

Sarah hesitated, her desire to stay and help Cameron warring with her desire to get John out of danger. "What the hell are you doing here John?"

"We were too late; the other Sarah Connor's already dead. Come on Mom, let's go," John urged as he glanced over towards the two battling terminators who were trading blows for blows gripping Sarah's arm tightly in apprehension.

Sarah clenched her teeth in anger at the news, glancing back towards Cameron to see the girl go flying as the other terminator grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her towards the house.

Feeling John tugging at her arm, Sarah ignored him as she saw Cameron landing heavily on the paved concrete, her heart somersaulting at the sight. Sarah froze in indecision as her gaze locked onto Cameron's crumpled form. Shrugging off John's hand on her arm Sarah stepped closer and raised her gun, sighting down the barrel as the terminator turned away from Cameron to lumber towards her and John.

"Mom!" John's voice was desperate now as he too raised his gun at the approaching terminator.

"Sarah go!" Cameron barked in desperation as she stumbled unsteadily to her feet. Seeing Sarah standing in front of the terminator, arms raised, Cameron sprinted forward and grabbing the terminators shoulders from behind slung him around and away to land on the side of the garage wall heavily, leaving a man size dent behind as he struggled to get up.

"I'm not leaving without you Cameron." Sarah's voice was firm as she gripped her gun tighter, keeping an eye out on the terminator behind Cameron.

Stepping in front of Sarah to block her from the terminator, Cameron's face was an icy mask as he finally got to his feet and came charging forward. Cameron side stepped the arm reaching for her head and punched him in the face, his head dropping backwards on impact. Bending down and picking up the shotgun from the lawn, Cameron swung as hard as she could into his stomach, watching briefly as the machine flew across the yard to land with another heavy thump.

Shooting a fierce scowl at Sarah, unhappy with her refusal to leave, Cameron ran towards her and gripping her firmly by the arm, dragged Sarah along behind her as she continued to run for the back gate. Tucking his gun into his jeans, John quickly followed behind.

Cameron dropped her hand from Sarah's arm and sprinted ahead towards the truck parked on the footpath. Digging the keys out from her jeans pocket, Cameron hastily climbed into the front seat and started the truck, revving the engine in her haste to put it into gear.

"Drive!" Sarah yelled as she jumped into the back seat and watched John clambering into the front passenger seat, slamming the door with a reverberating bang. Reaching for the second shot gun on the floor Sarah cocked it and swung her head and arms out the side window, aiming at the lumbering terminator coming out of the back yard and running towards them. Sarah pulled the trigger on the shot gun, the sound ringing clearly in the silent neighbourhood as it hit the terminators chest with deadly accuracy, leaving more gaping holes of metal and blood through his shirt.

With a squeal of rubber on pavement, Cameron floored the gas pedal and reversed the truck as fast as she could into the kneeling form of the terminator, hearing the thud of metal on metal as the truck struck the terminator with a satisfying thump. Putting the gear into first, Cameron revved the engine again and with one final squeal of rubber, pealed the truck onto the road hastily. Glancing up into the rear view mirror, Cameron's face was a mask of grimness as she saw the machine slowly get to his feet, keeping watch until she swerved around a corner and lost sight of his reflection.

Catching Sarah's worried frown in the mirror and her blood splattered shirt, Cameron's gaze turned icy cold as she pointedly looked away from Sarah's reflection to focus back on the road. Sarah and her reckless stubbornness was going to get her seriously hurt one day and Cameron didn't know if her systems would be equipped for that kind of situation.

Sighing wearily, Sarah drooped against the back seat as the imminent threat of the terminator was assuaged for now, feeling her shoulder twinge in protest at the movement. Seeing Cameron's reflection in the rear view mirror, Sarah stiffened in concern as the girl pointedly turned away from her stare. Sighing again, Sarah could only close her eyes in weary tiredness, the adrenaline from her close call with the terminator slowly ebbing from her body. All she wanted right now was to be back in bed with Cameron's warm arms and curves spooning her tightly, keeping her steady. Glancing at Cameron's reflection again and taking in the coldness and rigidity to her features, Sarah's heart resigned itself to no rest. Cameron was pissed at her...and Cameron being pissed at her was never conducive to a good night's sleep.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: **__Thanks to all the motivating comments that has fuelled my desire to continue with this story. Hopefully I can do it justice and keep you all satisfied._

_An extra bonus to the people that have taken the time to comment and provide lovely feedback, I've posted an extra update. See what happens when you feed the muse people? Enjoy :)_

**Part Three**

Sarah groggily stirred as she felt the sensation of being lifted and then a gentle swaying movement. Opening her eyes fully, Sarah stared into mesmerising brown, feeling Cameron's strong arms under her legs and around her back.

"Cameron?" Gazing away from the eyes looking down at her, Sarah realised they had reached home as Cameron walked up the front steps and through the door, John standing to the side holding it open for them.

"Cameron?" Sarah repeated as she struggled to be let down, "I can walk."

Choosing to ignore Sarah, Cameron tightened her arms and walked down the hallway towards Sarah's bedroom.

"Cameron, let me down. I need to go talk to..." Sarah protested again as she felt the arms around her tightening.

"John and Derek will do that. You are hurt." Cameron's voice was clipped as she interrupted Sarah forcefully.

Entering the bedroom Cameron placed Sarah down gently onto the bed, stepping back with an impenetrable expression on her face as Sarah got off the bed and stood up, shooting Cameron a withering glare at her actions.

"I'm fine. It's just a graze." Dismissing the wound on her shoulder with a wave of her hand, Sarah went to walk around Cameron's solid form in front of her, only to be stopped as Cameron gripped her firmly but gently on the arm.

"I need to have a look at it Sarah." Cameron's tone was hard, implying no argument or plea from Sarah was going to change her mind.

"Cameron..." Ready to argue her point, Sarah fell silent as she took in Cameron's firm stance and the narrowing of the girl's eyes at her protest.

Sitting back down on the bed slowly, cowed by the barely concealed anger behind familiar brown eyes, Sarah swallowed her apprehension as Cameron turned and stormed out of the bedroom and a few minutes later returned with the first aid kit in her hand.

Closing the door behind her, Cameron strode forward and knelt in front of Sarah, waiting patiently as Sarah removed the blood splattered shirt. An uneasy silence fell in the room as Cameron worked methodically, wiping the dried blood off Sarah's shoulder and then the small wound as gently as she could.

Feeling Cameron's stormy silence eating its way into her gut, Sarah watched the face in front of her in concern.

"Cameron?" Placing a hand on the girl's cheek gently, Sarah tilted Cameron's head up to her worried gaze, taking note of the superficial cuts and bruises sustained from her fight with the other terminator.

"I know you're mad at me but can you at least talk to me and stop giving me the silent treatment?"

"What do you want to talk about Sarah?" Cameron's voice was still clipped as she moved away from Sarah's touch, leaning back on her haunches to stare back with a shuttered expression.

"How about the fact that you're mad at me?" Sarah replied dryly with a raised eyebrow.

"Why did you not leave like I told you to Sarah? I cannot protect you if you don't listen to me." Cameron's expression was now hard and her eyes narrowing into a displeased glare as she turned away to glance down at the medical kit, her hands reaching for the disinfectant.

"Because Cameron," Sarah reached down again and lifted Cameron's head to her gaze, "for the same reason you can't leave me behind, I can't leave you behind either."

"I'm sorry for being such a bitch this morning and ordering you around like you don't matter to me." Sarah's hand started to stroke softly at Cameron's cheek, wanting to quell the uneasiness settling in her stomach at Cameron's coldness towards her. "I'm truly sorry Cameron. I do love you you know."

Cameron's features softened at Sarah's words, feeling her resistance melting at Sarah's touch. Sitting up on her knees, Cameron shifted closer as Sarah parted her legs to accommodate Cameron, Cameron's desire to hold the woman in her arms since she had seen Sarah battling with the terminator kicking into over drive.

Leaning her upper body into Sarah's, Cameron wound both arms lightly around her neck, pulling the woman closer as she placed her lips onto the tantalising ones in front of her. She needed to feel Sarah against her with a desperation that was making her lose cohesion to her thoughts. Her entire being needed to confirm that Sarah was safe, that the woman was here in her arms, to hear Sarah's heart beating it's familiar soothing rhythm.

Breaking away from the kiss, Cameron leaned her forehead against Sarah's her eyes closing in reaction to feeling her systems finally stabilising at the very real confirmation of Sarah under her hands and along her upper body. Her fingers were lightly brushing behind Sarah's neck, revelling in the tingling sensation of warm skin.

"You are reckless and stubborn…"

"Blah, blah, blah, but you love me anyway Cameron," Sarah interrupted with a murmur as her lips widened into a grin, moving away from Cameron slightly to stare into intense brown. Although her words were flippant, Sarah could feel the overwhelming relief sweep through her body at Cameron's forgiveness making her want to weep in joy.

Tracing a finger lightly against the cut on Cameron's cheek, Sarah marvelled once again at the feel of softness underneath her fingers. Taking note of the silver metal showing through the skin, Sarah clamped down on the shiver she could feel just sitting on the edges of her psyche. This was Cameron, not an unknown machine that wanted to do her harm. Cameron loved her and would always protect her, evidenced time and time again. Taking comfort in that knowledge, Sarah leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss onto the lips in front of her. This was _**her**_ Cameron and she needed to accept everything about the girl.

Cameron remained silent as she returned the kiss, wanting to keep on reprimanding the woman but knowing that she could not refute Sarah's words. Stifling her sigh Cameron could only hope that she was enough to keep Sarah safe. She had not lied to Sarah when she had told the woman that she could not function without her. With no programming to tell her what to do Cameron's only desire now was to be with Sarah…and if there was no Sarah...Cameron shut down that thought as quickly as it entered. She did not want to think about that now…if ever. Today was already too close for her comfort.

"Come on girlie, finish patching me up so I can patch you up. The world beckons you know." Sarah flashed Cameron another loving grin and an exasperated eye roll as she pulled away, feeling her insides finally settle at the warmth in the intense brown eyes staring back at her.

…

"Where's Sarah?" Sarah enquired with a raised eyebrow as she entered the kitchen, automatically heading towards the coffee machine.

Since the events of yesterday, the other Sarah was understandably freaked out and upset. After Cameron had finished tending to her wound and vice versa, Sarah and Cameron had made their way back to the sitting room only to find that John and Derek had already filled her in. Sitting shell shocked on the couch, staring wildly between everyone in the room, the other woman could only remain silent as the reality of her situation set in. Taking pity on the poor woman, Sarah had then decided it was enough for one night and led the still shocked woman to Cameron's room, hoping that a night's sleep would make her feel better.

"I think she's still in Cameron's room," John replied between mouthfuls of cereal as he glanced up at his mother's entrance.

Seeing the tiredness in Sarah's eyes and the stiffness to her joints, John could only hope that she had made up with Cameron. He hated it when they fought, making him feel uneasy and his stomach roil in apprehension at the tension between the two most important people in his life.

"I guess it's a lot to take in in one night. I don't think I did much better when Kyle Reese showed up," Sarah mused almost to herself as she waited impatiently for the coffee to brew. Usually Cameron would have already had the coffee waiting for her but for some reason this morning, the girl had been reluctant to let her out of her sight. It was only when she had finally threatened lightly that she would ban her from her room did Cameron allow Sarah to move from the bed to start their day.

Feeling her muscles twinge in a slight achy resonance to their activities last night, Sarah could only blush as she hid her face away from John. Last night, Cameron had been surprisingly…dominant. Usually quite happy to just sit back and let Sarah take the lead, Cameron had surprised her and taken charge. Not that Sarah was complaining but their lovemaking had been very intense and very tiring.

Cameron's touches and caresses had been almost desperate, a quiet hunger that could only be assuaged by hearing Sarah cry out her name in passion over and over again. It wasn't until she had begged off in exhaustion did Cameron finally relent and allow her to sleep, lying her on top of her solid form gently as warm arms wrapped around her waist to hold her firmly in her sleep. Knowing that Cameron would not feel the heaviness of her weight while she slept Sarah had allowed the girl her neediness.

Picking up the coffee carafe as soon as it finished percolating, Sarah wondered dryly if she would survive a cybernetic organism's never ending energy, never mind the spectre of judgement day. Pouring the contents into her waiting mug, Sarah inhaled the enticing aroma of freshly brewed coffee as if it was the Holy Grail and took a satisfying sip, feeling the hot liquid winding its way down her throat to settle comfortably in her stomach.

Feeling the caffeine kick start its way through her blood stream, Sarah finally began to feel a little more human as she wandered over to the table and sat down opposite John. About to say something to John again, Sarah flicked her glance towards the entrance as the other Sarah finally appeared and hesitantly started to enter the kitchen, her expression solemn and apprehensive.

"Sarah," Sarah stood up and walked over towards the woman slowly, not wanting to startle her further, "come sit down. John will get you some coffee." Quirking her eyebrows at John in silent command to bring the woman a coffee, Sarah guided her to a chair.

"So…wha…what am I supposed to do all day if I can't go home?" The woman finally enquired softly as she gazed towards Sarah then to John as he placed the coffee down in front of her. "I can't be expected to just sit here and do nothing? I have a life to get back to…my…my family."

"At this moment in time, you have to stay low, stay here with us until we can destroy the machine that's after you…well...me." Sarah started softly as she sat back down on her seat, trying to relax her body so as not to cause the woman more alarm. "It's not safe for you to go back and it'll be safer for your husband and children as well."

"But they'll be wondering where I am, if I'm ok. I need to see them, explain, explain what I don't know because I still don't understand. Even after thinking over everything last night, I still don't understand anything. That…machine wants to kill me because I share your name?"

"Essentially…yes." Sarah sighed and sipped her coffee as she tried to reign in her impatience, feeling the instant guilt devouring her thoughts. It wasn't the woman's fault that she was here with them and understandably she would still be confused and scared. It wasn't every day that some strange people saved your life from a machine that was sent from the future to hunt and kill you.

"How…how long am I expected to stay here?" The woman's features were still creased into a worried frown as she ignored the coffee on the table, her hands clasped together tightly in her lap.

"I don't know, until we can destroy it." Sarah's tone was firm this time as she glanced over towards John who was now leaning silently against the kitchen bench, arms folded over his chest as he took in the scene before him.

"When's Derek coming back?" Dismissing the woman for now allowing her to absorb her words, Sarah directed her question at John.

"He said he was going to check out Sarah's house first, see if he could get more information." John's voice was quiet as he walked over towards his mother and sat down beside her. "Where's Cameron anyway?"

John was surprised; it wasn't like the girl to not be hovering when his mother was around. She was like Sarah's silent bodyguard, silent but deadly.

"I am here John." Cameron answered before Sarah could as she stepped through the open back door, a paper bag in one hand. "I have breakfast."

Walking over towards Sarah, Cameron placed the bag in front of her, her expression clearly stating that Sarah was to eat without any arguments.

Rolling her eyes at Cameron's actions, Sarah sighed in resignation and opened the paper bag. Seeing the pastry treats inside, Sarah selected the smallest croissant she could find and grudgingly bit into it, giving Cameron a challenging look in return.

Cameron remained silent as she grabbed the paper bag from in front of Sarah and looking inside briefly, picked out another pastry and placed it in front of Sarah expectantly, this time much larger than the one Sarah was currently eating.

"Cameron, why don't you offer our guest some breakfast as well?" Sarah voiced in a sugary sweet tone, feeling her hackles beginning to rise as she eyed the second pastry distastefully.

"I'll have one," John quickly cut in as he snatched the paper bag from Cameron's fingers, grabbing a pastry from the bag and then offering it to the other Sarah.

The woman accepted the bag hesitantly, her features still showcasing her discomfort at having to spend time amongst strangers. Picking out a pastry from inside the bag, the woman began to tear off little strips and placing them in her mouth, chewing absently as she continued to watch in silence.

Cameron had now walked around to stand behind Sarah, her right arm making contact with Sarah's shoulder as she stared at the other woman with a blank expression. An awkward silence fell as the woman continued to stare at Cameron, Cameron returning the woman's stare unconcerned.

"Is she…is she one of them?" The question was hesitant, as the other woman continued to tear at her pastry, this time more with having something to do with her hands than having any real intentions of eating it. She had briefly caught a glimpse of Cameron last night when the girl had carried Sarah inside the house, the metal shining through her cheek obvious in the reflection from the light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

John stiffened automatically in response as he saw Cameron's form stiffen also at the woman's words as well. About to interject on Cameron's behalf, John fell silent as his mother spoke up first.

"Yes, Cameron's a cybernetic organism but she's not like that machine," Sarah's tone was firm as she spoke the words. Taking Cameron's hand lightly in her own Sarah squeezed it gently to get Cameron's attention as she glanced up into brown eyes, "Cameron's with us."

A little surprised at the declaration from Sarah in front of a complete stranger Cameron softened at the words and the look of love bestowed her way as she ignored everybody else in the room except the green eyes staring back at her with such warmth.

"Look, I really appreciate what you've all done…saving my life, but I need, I really need to go home. My children…husband…" The other Sarah stated softly, not missing the look exchanged between the machine and the woman sitting across from her.

"You cannot leave. You will put Sarah in danger and I cannot allow that." Cameron glanced away from Sarah's eyes to stare fiercely at the other woman as her words finally registered.

Flinching back in reaction to the cold eyes now pinning her with such intensity, the other Sarah glanced between John and Sarah in alarm.

"Cameron, it's okay. Sarah won't leave, will you Sarah?" Sarah interjected softly as she felt the tension rising in the room. Standing up from the table Sarah turned around to face Cameron, her back to the other woman as she placed a hand on Cameron's arm.

"Cameron, I really think you should go check outside. Make sure everything's safe." Sarah could see that Cameron was about to protest, her mouth opening to form the words. Before the words could come out however, Sarah stepped closer and mouthed, "Please," quirking an eyebrow in a silent plea.

Giving Sarah one last look and then glancing over Sarah's shoulder towards the sitting woman, Cameron turned and walked out without another word.

"Is she…is she always that scary?" The woman voiced uncertainly as the back door closed after Cameron with a soft click.

"Only when it comes to my mother's safety," John quipped dryly in reply, giving his mother a chagrined smile as she threw a scowl in his direction.

"Cameron won't hurt you unless you give her reason to."

Picking up her mug from the table Sarah walked over towards the coffee machine again and refilled it.

"Which basically means I'm stuck here until you guys let me go doesn't it?"

Sarah remained silent as she placed the carafe back in to the coffee machine, knowing that an answer wasn't needed. Even if she now decided that the other woman could go, Cameron would never let the woman out of this house, not if it meant her own safety was at stake.

…

Derek stifled a sigh as he sat at the kitchen table listening to Sarah's neighbour droning on and on about the proper care of her vegetable and flower garden, driving him insane with boredom. He had been here for at least half an hour now, showing the appropriate amount of attention and making the right noises in the right places as he tried to watch the house next door surreptitiously.

He had been surprised it had been so easy to gain the woman's trust. It was amazing what a little flirtation and lies about being Sarah's concerned friend from work could do. Having gained enough information from John about Sarah's life, Derek was able to keep up the pretence of knowing Sarah with enough vague comments and references to keep the neighbours suspicions away.

Watching the old woman move from the table to the boiling kettle and then the cupboards, Derek wondered if he should just shoot himself now to end his pain. Facing machines and terminators were better options than trying to keep up his enthusiasm with the current conversation. Glancing through the kitchen window again to Sarah's house now milling with police and FBI agents, Derek pushed away his impatience and gave himself an internal slap. The things he had to do for the mission.

"So the police already came to talk to you did they? Did they say where Sarah was? What happened?" Derek's voice was calm with a touch of curiosity as he was finally able to jump into the conversation as the old woman paused to gather breath.

"Oh yes dear, the FBI agent, what was his name, Agent…Agent Ellison, that's right, such a lovely man. We had the nicest conversation…" Derek stiffened at the agent's name, not liking that information one bit, "…wanted to know if Sarah had had any enemies, or anybody coming and going that didn't fit in with her usual crowd. Of course I told him that Sarah wasn't that kind of person, she was just the sweetest little thing ever. Her children and husband too. A boy and a girl you know, very lovely they are, always so well-mannered. Why, just last week, they both came over with some baking…"

Derek stifled another impatient sigh; the old woman had a bad habit of running away with the conversation if he let her.

"Do you think that they'll be ok? The children and husband I mean? They must be out of their minds with worry?" Quickly jumping in with another question Derek tried to keep her on topic.

"Isn't it just horrible? I can't imagine what they must be going through and I asked that exact same question to Agent Ellison but he assured me that the family are safe. Apparently they've been taken away and are under FBI custody at the moment. Agent Ellison couldn't tell me where of course, such a lovely man he is. He even made the time to come out and appreciate my garden, now wasn't that just the nicest thing ever?

The old woman walked back to the table slowly, teapot in one hand and a plate of biscuits in the other. Placing them down gently on the table, she prepared to pour tea into two mugs resting side by side in front of her.

"Mrs Clarkson, did you see anything at all? What did you tell the agent?" Grabbing the offered mug of tea from the woman with a polite thank you, Derek took a cautious sip to hide his features.

"Please, I've told you to call me Beatrice, Mrs Clarkson was my mother-in-laws name and that is one person I never want to be compared to, may God rest her soul." Sipping from her own tea slowly Mrs Clarkson extended the plate of biscuits to Derek. "Now, what was the question? Oh yes. All I told the agent was that I saw some people running out of the backyard, two women and a young boy. You see I was taking my usual afternoon nap at the time and was awoken by the most horrifying sound ever…gunshots, can you imagine? In a place like this? Where there's children running around and everything?"

Derek hid his grimace at the words; she had seen Cameron, Sarah and John. Damnit. Now they not only had to worry about the terminator chasing them down, they had to worry about the agent as well.

Sarah was not going to be happy about this.

…

"Hello? Oh, hello dear. Lovely to hear from you. No, no, I'm fine. Just a bit shook up as to be expected but I'm fine. No, no, you don't have to come over, next week is fine. I'm just about to make myself a cup of tea. Yes alright, see you next week then, bye."

The terminator placed the phone in its cradle gently and walked over to stand in front of the kitchen window. He had waited until night fall to return to the neighbourhood, making his way easily into the old woman's house with a simple flick of his wrist on the back door knob.

Killing the old woman had been easy too. She had been too weak to struggle against his hand clamped firmly over her mouth and nose as she lay sleeping in her bed. Watching her struggle futilely against his grasp, her eyes bulging in surprised terror, he had already dismissed her as being irrelevant. He had needed somewhere so he could hide and wait, somewhere where he could watch the house next door without being noticed.

Running his thermal imaging program in his head, the terminator cocked his head to the left slightly, his eyes boring holes into the house directly in front of him. That was where he had seen the real Sarah Connor and John Connor, they had been flushed out like he had planned. This was the best place for him to be, they would be back and this time he would be prepared. The unknown terminator that was with them had taken him by surprise but she was irrelevant as well. He had a mission to do and anything standing in his way would be destroyed.

Powering himself down so he was only running the minimal necessary programs required to keep him alert of his surroundings, the terminator stood rigidly in front of the kitchen window. He would wait and if they did not return before next week, then the visitor that the old woman was expecting would be dealt with as well.

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

**Part Four**

"We need to move, need to find another location. This place isn't safe anymore."

Sarah paced the room in concern, her face in a deep frown as Derek's words bounced around uneasily in her head. His update from his visit this morning to Sarah's neighbour making her head hurt. Terminators and now Agent Ellison again, it was never-ending this existence of theirs. Glancing towards Cameron, who was standing to the side in silence, Sarah could feel her nerves steadying, Cameron's solid presence a calming balm in the rising tension in her body.

"Why Mom? It's not like anybody knows who we are."

John's voice penetrated her haze of worry, focusing her attention off Cameron and onto the issue at hand again.

"Doesn't mean they won't find out in time." Turning to face John and then Derek who was now leaning quietly against the far wall in the living room, Sarah was just glad that the other Sarah had decided to retreat to Cameron's room for the time being. She didn't need the added headache of trying not to scare her even more.

Turning back to grace Derek with a determined glint in her eyes, Sarah ran a weary hand through her hair. "Ok, let's see, one thing at a time. Our first priority is to get more money and weapons."

"I have the list of Resistance safe houses Sarah, Future-John programmed them into my chip so that we would not run out of resources," Cameron interjected softly, her eyes never leaving Sarah's worried features.

Sarah glanced back to Cameron at her words, her relief evident at having something be relatively easy at last. At least they wouldn't need to go rob a bank now; being the saviour of mankind was an expensive occupation. "How come you never told me about this sooner?"

Cameron tilted her head quizzically, "You never asked."

Frowning at Cameron slightly before turning away, Sarah wondered what else the girl was not telling her just because she never thought to 'ask'.

"Ok, this is what we'll do then. Derek, go find us another location, preferably one that's away from civilisation. We don't need to be in the middle of suburbia anymore since John is now being home schooled."

"What are you going to be doing?" Derek enquired curiously as he stood up from the wall, ready to do as commanded.

"Cameron and I will go to the nearest Resistance safe house. As I said, we need money and weapons. We'll be needing new identities again as well and also to stock up on our depleting cache of weaponry."

Turning to grace John with a pensive look, Sarah rubbed her eyes tiredly; she could feel her right shoulder starting to throb lightly at her movements.

"John, see if you can use your laptop to locate any abandoned buildings within close distance of Sarah's place. I've got a plan."

"Care to share?" Derek interrupted lightly as he pulled his gun from behind his back, checking that it was fully loaded before tucking it back into his pants again.

"Not yet. I need the location first. Do you have any contacts you can call to organise a meet for the weapons?"

"Yeah, there's someone I can call. I'll let you know the details later."

Giving Derek one last glance as he walked out of the room, Sarah waited until his form disappeared through the front door before turning weary eyes onto Cameron. John had already made his way out of the room earlier, presumably to do research on his computer as requested.

"Here Sarah, take these." Cameron stepped closer, her hand stretched out in offering, a bottle of pills resting in her palm.

"Do you carry those with you now Cameron?" Sarah enquired part curious and part annoyed that the girl was still so stubborn in her desire to take care of her.

"Yes. I've come to realise that with you Sarah, these are necessary."

Sarah smirked at Cameron's words and arched an eyebrow, "You're just throwing that humour of yours around all over the place aren't you girlie?"

Taking the bottle from Cameron's hand, Sarah twisted the cap open and popped two into her mouth, swallowing them down in one gulp.

Ignoring Sarah's arched eyebrow and her words Cameron moved closer, placing a hand onto Sarah's waist to pull her against her own body. Giving in to her constant desire to have Sarah close, Cameron held on tighter, feeling the woman's body pressing against hers in its warm familiarity. Feeling a brief resistance from Sarah as she looked over towards the living room entrance, Cameron just held on more firmly, not allowing Sarah to escape. She needed this contact, had needed it since Sarah had left the bed this morning.

Closing her eyes and resting her chin lightly on to the top of Sarah's head Cameron felt her give in as she placed her cheek gently onto her shoulder and Sarah's arms wrapping themselves around her neck. Cameron could feel her insides starting to settle finally tinged with a slight guilt knowing that Sarah's tiredness was because of her and her continuous demands on Sarah's body all night last night. After the panic of yesterday Cameron had needed to feel Sarah with her, to assuage her desperate hunger in wanting to know and feel that Sarah was really in the bed beside her.

"Cameron, we have to go," Sarah murmured softly revelling in the feel of a firm shoulder underneath her cheek through Cameron's jacket as she gave in to the touch.

Without saying a word, Cameron stepped back slightly and tilted Sarah's head up to hers, capturing soft lips fiercely, pushing in an insistent tongue to devour Sarah's with her own. Tasting and sucking urgently, Cameron clasped Sarah's backside firmly, pulling her closer against a solid thigh that was now between Sarah's legs.

"Cameron, we…we shouldn't be doing this," Sarah breathed out harshly as she pulled away from the demanding kiss to gather her breath as fiery arousal flared its way through her body. Feeling Cameron's roaming hands against her backside and the firm thigh pressing enticingly into her centre, Sarah closed her eyes and willed her heart beat to steady even as she felt her body starting to respond.

"Mom, I've got a list of…" Entering the living room, John abruptly turned on his heels and walked out again as he caught his mother in an intimate embrace with Cameron. Blushing a bright red and mumbling under his breath about bedrooms and privacy he retreated as quickly as he could, trying to scrub the disturbing image from his retinas that was now burning his brain.

Pulling herself away from Cameron at the sound of John's voice, Sarah closed her eyes in mortification as she caught his retreating back. Gripping Cameron's arms forcefully, Sarah dipped her head to lean gently against Cameron's chest, feeling her whole body warm in embarrassment.

"Cameron, you really are going to kill me you know. If not from exhaustion then from embarrassment," Sarah groaned softly.

"John is a big boy Sarah. He knows we are in a relationship and that the relationship will obviously involve…intimate encounters." Murmuring softly into Sarah's ear, Cameron was unperturbed that John had walked in on them as her hands began to roam over Sarah's body again.

"Yeah but he doesn't have to _**see **_it. Ok, that's enough girlie before I forget about everything and just decide to take you right here on the floor." Moving her body away from Cameron Sarah held her at arm's length inhaling a sharp breath as the tingling sensations from Cameron's touch whizzed their way through her veins.

Giving Sarah a small pout, Cameron was about to pull Sarah closer again when the other Sarah entered the living room. Glancing at the woman silently, Cameron's face lost all signs of playfulness as an awkward silence descended.

"Sarah…um." Having forgotten all about the other woman and their perilous situation in the heat of Cameron's arms, Sarah could only blush again as she flicked glances between Cameron and the now obviously uneasy woman standing before them.

"Um, I was just...I was just going to go to the kitchen." Walking out as abruptly as she had entered Sarah could only stare at the retreating back in silence.

Groaning softly and giving Cameron a stern look in warning, Sarah walked out of the room, trying to push away the look of uneasiness on the other Sarah's face at her behaviour with Cameron.

"Come on girlie, we've got a withdrawal to make."

…

"So…John. Your mother and…Cameron…there's something going on there isn't there?"

The question was seemingly casual in the silent kitchen but John could sense the uneasiness behind the enquiry.

After witnessing his mother and Cameron in their…moment, John had returned to the kitchen and his laptop and was now studiously trying to find anything on the internet that would take his mind off the image his eyes had seen. Remaining silent when the woman had entered a few minutes later, John had only given her a brief friendly smile before returning his attention back onto the laptop in front of him.

Tensing at the unexpected question, John raised his eyes to watch the woman fidgeting uncomfortably at the sink, her eyes roaming everywhere except on him.

"I don't really think that that's any of your concern but….yes. They're in love."

"How? I thought…Cameron's a machine isn't she? She's programmed…"

John's face turned into a scowl at the words as his fists clenched in sudden anger, "Cameron is _**not**_ a machine. She's made of metal yes but she's…she's more than that."

Taken aback at John's obvious anger, Sarah schooled her face into apologetic concern as she moved to sit down beside John, clasping his rigid arm gently.

"I'm sorry John. I didn't mean…I didn't mean to upset you. I know it's none of my business but I…I was just curious and I guess, I just wanted to understand. I can see that Cameron loves your mother; it's so obvious in everything she does. The way she always looks out for her, the way Cameron's eyes are only on Sarah whenever she enters the room. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to offend you."

John weighed the words silently, hearing the sincerity in the apology. Sighing softly, he relaxed his rigid frame knowing that for an outsider the question was justifiable, she would never understand completely. Sarah had only known of the machines and judgement day for one day, they had been doing this his whole life.

"It's ok but just, just don't call Cameron that anymore ok? She doesn't like it…_**we**_ don't like it."

"So…tell me about them then. I'm truly curious to know the full story, plus it'll help me take my mind off my children." Settling back against her seat Sarah raised a curious eyebrow.

"Well, it's not really my story to tell but, it hasn't been easy for my Mom you know. Ever since she found out about judgement day when she was nineteen…her life has been a never ending struggle with machines from the future out to kill her and the constant burden of keeping me alive as well, never mind the authorities all labelling her as psychotically crazy. I'm glad she has Cameron, I think it's made everything more…bearable for her."

Staring off into space John fell silent wanting the woman sitting next to him to really understand his mother, to understand her life before she made any harsh judgements. Sarah Connor was deserving of her respect and admiration, not her condemnation of a situation that she would never fully grasp.

Turning to stare into still curious eyes, John could sense that the woman truly did want to understand and learn more about the woman whose name she shared. Taking in a deep breath, John started from the beginning. About how a nineteen year old girl came to realise that her destiny was to be more than just a mere waitress...whether she had wanted it or not.

…

"So how many of these places did Future-John set up?"

Taking in their surroundings Sarah pulled the truck over to the side and parked in front of the non-descript run down building in front of them. Hopping out of the truck and following after Cameron, Sarah ignored the mingling bums and other people around the entrance. Reaching behind her back instinctively to feel the comfortable solidity of the metal gun underneath her jacket, Sarah continued into the dingy building her features masking into a scowl automatically, hoping to discourage anyone curious enough to try and approach them.

"I have seven more other places on my list spread throughout LA and then there are other places throughout the states. John wanted us to be prepared and not to worry about resource shortages in our fight against Skynet."

Making their way up the winding staircase, Sarah screwed her nose up in distaste. The smell permeating the air was rankling on her senses and the accumulated rubbish and debris tossed carelessly into dust ridden corners were making her body shudder in revulsion. Avoiding a particularly nasty looking stain in the hallway they were now walking down, Sarah could only follow silently behind Cameron, keeping a wary eye on the dismal surroundings as she noted the colourfully spray painted words on the walls here and there.

"You know Cameron; you sure do bring a girl to the nicest places."

Cameron returned the mumbled comment with a small smirk as she entered an open doorway at the end of the hallway but refrained from speaking. She was getting better at understanding Sarah's humour.

Entering the cavernous room, the ceilings showcasing high arching beams up above spattered with cobwebs and dust, Cameron made her way to the far end of the room to a small brown panel. Apart from the scattered remains of human discarded rubbish here and there, the room was empty, the light filtering through the high windows showing the disturbed patches of dust on the floor, evidence to other people having used the room at one stage or another. Scanning the panel briefly and ignoring the spray painted graffiti on the walls; Cameron stretched out an arm casually to punch a gaping hole into the concrete wall.

Standing to the side watching in silence, Sarah could only marvel at the true strength being displayed in front of her comparing them to the memories of gentle touches and teasing caresses swimming in her mind's eye. Sarah knew what Cameron was made of of course but being around the girl on a daily basis had softened her to the knowledge of Cameron not actually being human. The girl had come a long way since her first encounter with the Connor's making Sarah forget at times that under her skin, Cameron had metal instead of bones. Having a girlfriend that could bend steel and crush concrete with her bare hands but also be able to hold her body with such tenderness was a testament to how much Cameron was evolving.

Taking a step closer as Cameron pulled out a faded grey duffel bag, the outside coated with so much dust and grime, Sarah wrinkled her face in displeasure. Gripping Cameron's arm lightly to get the girl's attention, Sarah placed a chaste kiss onto the red lips in front of her before stepping back to grace Cameron with a soft smile.

"Thank you for loving me Cameron."

Startled and delighted at Sarah's impulsive behaviour, Cameron's lips widened into a big smile of her own, "You are welcome Sarah."

"Well, well, well, look what we got here boys, a coupla dykes who just needs a real man to show them what they're missin out on."

Turning towards the sudden intrusion, Sarah narrowed her eyes in suspicion as her face changed into a scowl taking in the five men sauntering towards them with a smirk on their faces. Watching the obscenely fat guy in the front of the pack warily, Sarah surmised that he was the leader of this band of miscreants.

"We don't want any trouble," Sarah growled softly as Cameron stepped closer to her side, dropping the duffel bag onto the floor with a thump at the sudden threat to Sarah before her.

"We're not lookin for trouble honey, we just want us some fun. Don't we boys?" Grabbing his crotch suggestively, the leader turned towards the other men standing at his side with a greasy leer, their raucous laughter filling the empty room with evil intent.

Sarah sighed, not really in the mood for a pack of over grown boys and their constant search for approval from their peers. Travelling in packs gave them a false sense of security, feeding their already over inflated egos of how great they were when in actual fact, they were just scared little boys playing at being grown-ups in a big bad scary world.

Sizing them up intently Sarah relaxed slightly. Apart from the obese guy in the front, the others were all scraggly looking. Tall and thin, with clothes that looked as if it had been borrowed from a discarded clothing bin, they appeared harmless enough. Sarah turned a quizzical eye onto Cameron in a silent question, knowing that the girl would have already scanned them for any dangerous weapons.

Seeing the quick negative head shake in return and knowing that Cameron could despatch them easily enough with one arm tied behind her back, Sarah gripped the girl's arm firmly as Cameron started to walk forward, the scowl on her face at the group's intent making her tense in anger.

"It's ok Cameron, I got this." Sarah gave her a small smile, willing the girl to let her take the lead in this situation. Cameron stepped back reluctantly, her eyes never leaving the man in front as she noted the positions of the other four men.

"Aw, would ya look at that boys ain't that just down right sweet? You must be the one that wears the strap-on when you fuck your pretty little girlfriend over there." Sneering at Sarah, the leader stepped closer as the other four men spread out to surround them in a half circle.

Ignoring another round of raucous laughter and feeling her hackles rising at the crude words, Sarah spread her lips into a smirking challenge, "I probably work it better than you ever could with your limp dick fatso."

Seeing the leader's face clench in sudden anger at her taunting words and his now sniggering comrades at his expense, the leader reached into his side pocket and pulled out a switch blade. Flicking the blade up with a soft 'snick', his features turned from leeringly teasing to a menacing glare.

"We'll just see about that when I give you what I got won't we bitch?"

"If I can see your dick through your rolls I'd love to let you but you see, my girlfriend here? She's the jealous type and she doesn't like to share."

Tensing at the now glinting blade in front of her, Sarah held on tighter to Cameron's arm, feeling the malevolence rolling off Cameron towards the vile man in front of her.

"I don't give a shit what type she is, you bitches are all the same when you're squealin under us."

Still keeping her eyes on the blade in front of her, Sarah released Cameron's arm and stepped closer to the glaring man, sensing Cameron stiffen even more at her actions. Feeling her anger flare in a hot rage at the man's words Sarah lost all sense of playfulness.

"Sarah…" Cameron voiced in a warning monotone as her stance changed to a fighting position, her hands clenching into fists at Sarah's behaviour. Turning slightly to still keep the leader in her sights, Cameron's gaze swept over the remaining four, their postures now tightening menacingly at Sarah's expression.

Ignoring Cameron's warning tone, Sarah stalked even closer to stand an arm's length away from the man. Smelling his rancid body odour floating to her nostrils and screwing her face in distaste Sarah drew her arms in front of her in a taunting gesture.

"Come show me then you fat pig, seeing as you like to prey on helpless women."

Shooting Sarah another vicious glare, the man tensed and then suddenly charged, the switch blade held in front of him firmly. Dodging the out stretched arm holding the weapon easily, Sarah smacked him on the back with a fist as he ran past. Turning around to face the leader again, Sarah jumped lightly on the soles of her feet her fists now held in front of her in a boxing position.

"Not that easy when we're not so helpless huh?"

Narrowing his eyes at the taunt the man charged again, swinging the blade in front of him wildly towards Sarah's chest. Side stepping easily again, Sarah kicked the man's rear in passing, watching him sprawl to the floor in satisfaction.

Seeing the other four men moving in closer to help their leader out of the corner of her eyes, Sarah turned back to face the man struggling to his feet, his belly protruding obscenely from the shirt that had risen up in his haste to stand. Knowing that Cameron had her back, Sarah ignored the others her only focus on the repugnant man in front of her.

"Come on tough guy, I'm still waiting to see a real man here."

Hearing the sounds of scuffling behind her, Sarah knew Cameron had had enough and was starting to pound on the other four men advancing behind her.

"You fucking bitch!" The man roared in rage, spittle flying out of his mouth as he lumbered towards Sarah again, the blade still held tightly in a death grip. "I was just gonna play with you a little but you're fucking dead now."

Suddenly distracted as two men went flying past her, Sarah side stepped the swiping blade a little too late, feeling it slice through her jacket sleeve and into her arm. Gasping in shock rather than pain, Sarah kicked out viciously as the man lumbered forward again, catching his side in a solid thump.

Cameron tensed in reaction to hearing Sarah's gasp as she grabbed the man she was fighting with by his throat and threw him carelessly over her shoulder to crash with a bang against the wall, her only focus now on getting to Sarah. Swinging her arm towards the last man running towards her almost nonchalantly, she connected with his stomach and watched dispassionately as he flew across the room to land in a crumpled heap in front of her.

Stalking towards Sarah her eyes glaring daggers into the obese man standing in front of her, Cameron gripped Sarah firmly by the shoulder and pulled her back gently to stand behind her.

"You really shouldn't have done that. Now you've made Cameron mad and all I was trying to do was to save you pain." Commenting lightly Sarah allowed Cameron to take over, feeling the sudden anger draining from her body, wanting to just go home and forget about shitheads that didn't deserve to be human.

Gripping the charging man by the throat easily in her outstretched arm, Cameron lifted him off the ground. Catching his flailing arm with the switch blade, Cameron twisted, feeling the crunch of bones as his wrist snapped and the blade fell to the ground with a clatter, mingling with the sounds of the man's gurgling scream at his broken wrist.

"Cameron, don't kill him even though he doesn't deserve to live."

Hearing Sarah's words behind her, Cameron froze, her eyes never leaving the man's in front of her as he continued to struggle vainly to get free, his eyes widening in sudden fear.

"You said I could hurt them though right?" Remembering their conversation of months ago, Cameron tilted her head pensively waiting on Sarah's answer as her grip tightened minutely, watching in satisfaction as the man's eyes began to bulge his face turning purple at the lack of oxygen.

"Yes Cameron, you can hurt him but just a little though ok?" Sarah's tone was like a mother to a child, playfully tolerant as she watched Cameron drop the man to the ground to lie in a heap at her feet, his breath coming in harsh gasps as he tried to get as much air as he could into his lungs.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Sarah stood and watched in silence as the man tried to scramble away on one hand and feet, his other arm held tightly to his chest.

Cameron reached out casually and clamped down firmly on to the man's left ankle, twisting her wrist with a sudden jerk. The man screamed in pain again as the bones in his ankle snapped, clasping his leg to his chest in overwhelming agony with his one remaining working hand. Ignoring his screams, Cameron knelt down and circled a hand around his throat, nailing him to the floor and cutting off his screams with a sudden gurgle as she flexed her hand and squeezed firmly.

"Sarah said I cannot kill you but maybe I should ignore her and kill you anyway?" Cameron voiced softly as her cold eyes continued to bore holes into his skull. "You hurt Sarah."

Sarah held her breath at the softly spoken words but remained standing where she was, hoping that she wouldn't have to intervene. It was a choice to take a human life when self-defence didn't come into the equation and Cameron had to learn that it was her choice to make and no one else's.

Cameron remained staring down coldly at the frightened eyes in front of her, feeling her hatred and her rage flow through her body for the…filth that had wanted to cause her Sarah harm. Feeling her fingers tightening even more at the thought of what the man and his friends had wanted to do to Sarah, Cameron could feel the overwhelming desire to kill him coursing through her entire body.

Raising her left arm and clenching her hand into a tight fist, Cameron drew back and with a mighty swing punched down towards the frightened man's face…swerving minutely at the last minute to crash through the concrete floor beside his head with a dull crunch.

"Sarah is right, you don't deserve to live…but she has also taught me that it's wrong to kill when there is no need to kill. You are lucky that I have Sarah to teach me."

Walking up softly behind Cameron, Sarah placed a hand onto the girls shoulder, squeezing tightly to get her attention. Feeling Sarah's firm grip and her warm body against hers, Cameron suddenly released her hold from around the man's neck and stood up, her eyes dismissing the now frozen man on the ground as she glanced over towards Sarah in concern.

"You are hurt Sarah, let me see." Glancing towards the jagged cut in Sarah's sleeve jacket and the tinge of blood around the edges Cameron reached out swiftly pushing the sleeve up Sarah's arm at the same time.

"It's ok Cameron, it's just a scratch. The jacket stopped most of the blade from cutting through." Sighing in relief that Cameron had let the man go, Sarah glanced down at the scratch on her arm to confirm her words. Placing a warm hand onto Cameron's chin, Sarah tilted her head up towards her. "See, it's just a scratch."

"You should have let me handle it in the first place Sarah. You would not be 'scratched' at all if you had." Firming her lips into a thin line of disapproval, Cameron's body relaxed slightly at the proof of Sarah's words.

"I told you I can look after myself girlie…besides…he pissed me off." Glancing towards the still writhing man on the floor and hearing his groans of pain, Sarah walked over towards him suddenly. Taking note of the spreading puddle coming from under the man's prone body, Sarah wrinkled her nose even more in disgust.

Placing her feet on his chest to get his attention, Sarah waited until his fearful eyes met hers, "Remember this day you piece of shit because I'll be watching you. If you and your goons try to hurt anyone ever again I'll know about it and next time, I won't be so nice, you got me?"

Waiting until the man shook his head in fearful agreement, Sarah turned away back to Cameron, "Let's go Cameron; I've had enough excitement for one day."

Watching Cameron walk back towards the forgotten duffle bag and slinging it over her shoulder effortlessly, Sarah was grateful that no one had been seriously hurt. Knowing that Cameron could have killed every one of these men without a backward glance or remorse, Sarah felt an overwhelming happiness that Cameron was at last seeming to understand the importance of humanity, even if the ones that were still alive didn't deserve that honour.

"You sure do know how to show a girl a good time girlie…but next time? I vote for just dinner and a movie for our next outing ok?"

Giving Cameron a smirk, Sarah wound her fingers around Cameron's as they walked towards the exit, catching the girls barely suppressed eye roll at her words. Snorting in open amusement now, Sarah continued to chuckle softly as they walked out of the room together, more in love with a metal girl than she could ever hope to understand.

…

"Mom, what the hell happened?"

John stood up suddenly from the kitchen table as Sarah and Cameron entered. Taking in their crumpled appearance and the jagged cut tinged with fading blood on Sarah's jacket sleeve, John could only think the worse.

"It's ok…we had a run in with a pack of over grown boys who wanted to have a bit of fun." Giving John a brief reassuring glance, Sarah placed the takeaway bags of food down onto the table and sat down wearily. "When I told them I had all the fun I could handle, they didn't like the answer."

"Are you sure you're ok? Why the blood?" Sitting down again feeling slightly better at his mother's reassurance and light words, John could feel himself relaxing slightly. At least it wasn't the terminator.

Glancing towards Cameron for confirmation who was now sitting opposite Sarah, John caught Cameron's slight nod in affirmation at Sarah's words. Feeling the tension releasing from his body at Cameron's nod, John knew his mother was telling the truth. Cameron would never just be sitting at the table causally if Sarah was truly hurt.

"It's just a scratch, I'll be fine." Dismissing John's worried frown with a wave of her hand, Sarah started to open the bags of food, setting them out onto the table. "I'm gonna go take a shower, I'll tell Sarah dinner's ready."

"I think I've found the place that you wanted me to look for as well Mom." Standing up from the table to grab plates and silverware, John glanced over towards Sarah briefly as she started to walk out of the room.

Pausing in the doorway, Sarah turned back slightly, "Ok, we'll discuss it after my shower, has Derek returned yet?"

"He rang about a minute ago and said he was on his way back."

With a small nod, Sarah turned and walked out.

"So, did you guys end up getting what you were looking for?" Tossing Cameron a raised eyebrow in query, John sat down and started to dish out the food from the various Chinese cartons sitting on the table.

"Yes. The bag is in the living room."

"What's in it?" Sitting back comfortably in his seat now that his plate was piled high with food, John started to dig in enthusiastically.

"Cash, diamonds, gold, Future-John was very resourceful." Cameron quirked a small smile in return at John's surprised look.

"Hmmm, probably so I'd never go hungry," John smirked in return. Sighing briefly John rolled his eyes at Cameron as he caught her looking at the doorway again.

"Just go already Cameron; you know you want to go check on Mom."

Giving John a blank look in return at his words, Cameron remained seated for a few more seconds then stood up slowly from the table and left without another word.

Passing the other Sarah on the way to the bathroom, Cameron acknowledged her presence with a slight nod, knowing that the other woman was uncomfortable with her presence. Getting a wide grin in return from the passing woman, Cameron was startled but hid her reaction as she approached the bathroom door. Giving one last glance towards the retreating woman's back, Cameron dismissed her from her thoughts and entered silently.

Shedding her clothes as quickly as she could, Cameron adjusted her eye sight to the steaming bathroom from the hot water and caught Sarah's enticing form through the glass shower doors. Opening the door as quietly as she could, Cameron stepped inside to wrap her arms around Sarah's waist gently pulling her firmly against her front.

"Shit Cameron! What have I told you about sneaking up on me?" Startled at the feel of Cameron's warm body pressed against her back, Sarah turned her head to grace Cameron with a peevish glare.

"That I wasn't to do it anymore?" Ignoring the woman's glare, Cameron's hands started to roam up and down Sarah's body. Tracing light caresses onto Sarah's flat belly Cameron continued further up to cup full and rounded breasts softly, palming and squeezing as the nipples hardened in reaction.

Placing light teasing kisses onto Sarah's neck, Cameron could feel Sarah's body relaxing as she continued with her soft ministrations on Sarah's body.

"Ye…yes," Sarah replied haltingly, feeling the breath rushing out of her body at Cameron's touch and kisses. Leaning her head back against a strong shoulder, Sarah reached behind her to grasp firmly at Cameron's hips, pulling her tighter against her backside.

"Why…why are you in here…anyway?" Gasping softly as Cameron's lips found the sensitive spot behind her ears, Sarah could only close her eyes in reaction as instant arousal flushed through her body. Feeling the warmth of the hot water cascading down her front and the hotness of Cameron along her back, Sarah was lost and in heaven.

"I came to check up on you, make sure you weren't hiding more wounds from me." Moving one hand away from the soft breast she was kneading lovingly through the drops of water coming down from the shower head, Cameron traced a finger delicately down Sarah's side, across her stomach to rest lightly against her centre. Continuing her light tracing pattern with her fingers on the outside, Cameron nipped gently at Sarah's ear lobe, "You're not hiding anything from me are you Sarah?"

Feeling Cameron's warm breath on her ear and the tingling sensations of Cameron's fingers driving her wild Sarah groaned softly as she clenched Cameron's hips tighter.

"Cameron…" Sarah gasped as the fingers began to dip lower, her legs spreading of their own volition to accommodate the searching, probing fingers, feeling Cameron's other hand tug and roll her hardened nipple firmly as she increased the pressure of her kisses.

Leaning fully against Cameron's solid body now, Sarah could only feel as rational thought flew out of her head, her insides beginning to sizzle and fizz as Cameron's fingers continued their teasing touches. Standing away slightly from the running water and twisting her head around, Sarah caught Cameron's lips in her own, sucking fiercely on the hot tongue pushing its way into her mouth.

Pulling away to catch her breath Sarah stood directly under the hot water, placing both her palms against the shower wall for support as she bent her head forward, feeling Cameron grinding against her backside, her hands never leaving her breast and her aching centre.

Rocking her hips feverishly trying to push the probing fingers deeper Sarah gave another groan, feeling the fiery hotness building inside her body. The hot water pounding down from above and the feelings coursing through her both combining to add fuel to her already burning need.

"Cameron…oh God…" Losing all coherent thought as Cameron's fingers continued their torturous touching Sarah's breaths started to come out in little keening gasps as she felt her stomach muscles clenching.

With a hoarse cry, Sarah arched her back as she felt her brain explode, hot little white lights twinkling inside her eyelids as her body started to spasm, feeling Cameron's strong arms holding her steady, catching her as she continued to shake uncontrollably.

Placing a loving kiss onto the back of Sarah's shoulders, Cameron removed her fingers and gently turned Sarah around to face her as the warm water continued to pound down. Capturing Sarah's lips in a demanding kiss, feeling the water cascading down her shoulders and back, Cameron placed both her hands under Sarah's leg's and lifted, leaning Sarah back against the shower wall for added support.

Moaning as Cameron's searching lips touched hers Sarah wrapped her legs reflexively around Cameron's waist her hands wrapping themselves around Cameron's neck to pull her tighter against her. Feeling Cameron's searching fingers once more reaching down between her thighs, Sarah broke the kiss abruptly to clasp onto Cameron's shoulders, her body already responding with an urgent need that left her breathless.

"Cameron…I…I can't…" Trying to protest softly in between Cameron's kisses and teasing fingers, Sarah could only groan and bite her teeth into Cameron's shoulder as Cameron refused to let her go, her fingers moving in and out relentlessly, coaxing her body into another release she could already feel building.

Placing her mouth against Sarah's ear, Cameron suckled softly at the ear lobe, her tongue flicking in and out in the same rhythm to her fingers down in Sarah's centre as she whispered softly, "You are Sarah Connor…you can do anything Sarah."

"Fuck…Cameron!" At the words and the added pressure, Sarah arched her back desperately feeling her whole body clenching, her arms and legs wrapping themselves even tighter against the body holding her captive as another searing white heat expanded its way through her insides. Feeling her body trembling at the sensations Sarah could only hold on as they devoured her whole, consuming her in their intensity leaving her feeling raw and tender.

Placing soft kisses onto Sarah's neck, Cameron could feel the water beginning to cool on her back. Still holding tightly onto Sarah to keep her balanced, Cameron pulled back slightly to place a soft kiss onto Sarah's lips.

"Now do you believe I'm not hiding anything?" Mumbling tiredly Sarah gently released her legs from around Cameron's waist to stand on unsteady feet, her insides still reacting to the warm sensations flowing up and down her body like a gentle waterfall. Trembling slightly at the soft caresses to her sides, Sarah could feel the cooling water dripping onto Cameron's body as Cameron shielded her from most of the spray up above.

"I don't know Sarah, you do have a bad habit of keeping the true extent of your injuries from me." Giving Sarah a small smirk in reply Cameron started to place light kisses against Sarah's collarbone, her hands already beginning to trail their way up her body. "I think I need to check again just to be sure."

Turning off the now cold water, Sarah reached out gently to stop Cameron's wandering hands as she stepped out of the shower, tugging a willing Cameron along behind her. Already feeling another overwhelming surge of arousal zinging its way through her core, Sarah wondered if maybe dying from being over loved by a cybernetic organism wouldn't be a good way to go after all.

"Come on girlie, I don't think I'll survive another check-up like the last two right now, not on an empty stomach anyway. I definitely need food before anymore checking can continue."

Placing a soft kiss onto pouty lips, Sarah smiled softly at the expression on Cameron's face marvelling once again at seeing the love that she had not been searching for, had actually fought against with everything in her entire being, shining back at her with such heart-breaking openness.

TBC…


	5. Chapter 5

**Part Five**

"Cameron please, I don't know what you want me to do. We keep on having the same old argument." Leaning against the bedroom door wearily Sarah crossed her arms over her chest in impatience. "You cannot protect me all the time. I can't be wrapped in cotton wool just so you won't be worried about keeping me safe."

"But it isn't necessary for you to do this Sarah; I can lure the terminator out not you." Staring at Sarah in determination Cameron wasn't willing to back down.

Sarah sighed and walked over towards Cameron standing beside the bed, placing a hand onto the girls arm and stroking her cheek softly with her other hand.

"I don't want to fight or argue with you Cameron I really don't. You know who I am, you know what our mission is, why do you always want to stop me from doing what I have to do?"

Sarah knew as soon as she had outlined her plan to everyone assembled in the living room that Cameron was not going to like it, was going to argue with her each step of the way. Waiting until Derek had left with the other Sarah to do as told and leaving John to wait patiently until she could talk to Cameron alone, Sarah had dragged her into her bedroom, needing some privacy to persuade Cameron into listening to her. She really was trying to understand Cameron's desire to keep her safe but by the very nature of what they had to do; Cameron had to know that that was impossible.

"I don't want to see you hurt…or…killed Sarah." Cameron's expression was one of distaste as the words came out of her mouth. Placing her arms around Sarah's waist to pull her closer Cameron's grip was desperate in her need to make Sarah understand.

"Well yeah, that's a given Cameron but you can't protect me all the time. I don't want to see you hurt either but we can't stop doing what we do just because it's dangerous." Staring into the brown eyes in front of her Sarah's heart stopped briefly at the thought of not being able to have Cameron standing by her side. "Please Cameron, you don't like it when I try to bully you into doing what I want you to do and I don't like it either so I'm asking you. I'm asking you to just let me do what I need to do."

Cameron remained silent at the words, her face pensive and focussed as she gazed into Sarah's emerald green eyes weighing the words in her pleading tone. Finally with a slight tilt of her head Cameron placed her hand over Sarah's hand still stroking her cheek gently and gripped it firmly in her grip. "Do you swear Sarah not to do anything foolish or reckless?"

Sighing in relief at the question, Sarah released her hand from Cameron's grip and wrapped her arms around her neck, tilting her head up at the slight height difference. "I swear I will try not to do anything that will endanger my life Cameron but you have to realise I will do everything necessary to stop that terminator."

"Sarah…" Before Cameron could protest further at her partial compromise to the promise Cameron wanted to extract from her, Sarah leant forward and placed her lips firmly onto Cameron's to silence her words. Feeling Cameron resist at the obvious ploy to distract her, Sarah pressed her lips more insistently against Cameron's not giving the girl a chance to pull away.

As Cameron's resistance wavered and her body relaxed into her embrace, Sarah wound her arms tighter around Cameron's neck, pulling her closer against the full length of her body. Opening her lips to taste Cameron fully Sarah could only groan as Cameron acquiesced and returned her kiss forcefully, Cameron's tongue winding its way into her mouth to intertwine lightly with her own.

Feeling the overwhelming need of arousal rush through her body like a bush fire Sarah broke away, knowing this was not the time to assuage her hunger. John was waiting after all. Resting her head lightly against Cameron's chest Sarah wanted to savour this feeling, of being safe and loved in Cameron's arms.

Cameron pulled away slightly to look down into eyes that she adored, the love and warmth she could see shining back at her making her want to pull Sarah closer and to never let go. Cupping Sarah's chin softly, Cameron placed a lingering kiss onto reddened lips and then pulled back to stare intently into the virile green in front of her.

"I love you Sarah, I will always love you. You are my heart and without you, I'm just another machine. Please swear that you'll look after my heart."

Hearing the softly spoken whisper, Sarah's eyes suddenly pooled and spilt over onto her cheeks, the silent tears falling for a girl that she now knew she could never live without. Clearing a suddenly croaky throat hoarse with overwhelming emotions, Sarah wiped the tears off her cheeks and wound her fingers through Cameron's, gripping them firmly in her grasp as her other hand reached into her jeans pocket.

Releasing Cameron's fingers, Sarah tilted her hand palm upward and placed the chain that she now held into Cameron's hand, the light reflecting and bouncing off the diamond at the end of the chain held by a silver clasp.

"I was waiting for the right time to give you this…and after those words…I'm guessing the right time is now."

Staring up into eyes suddenly wide with surprise, Sarah smiled softly as Cameron gently held the chain in her hand, letting the diamond dangle freely at the end as she looked towards Sarah and then the gift in wonder. Taking the chain from Cameron's fingers, Sarah opened the clasp and wound her arms around Cameron's neck as the girl bent her head to allow Sarah to put the chain on her.

"I love you Cameron…and although I might fight and argue with you from time to time, just know that I'll always love you too. You told me once that a diamond is a girl's best friend and asked if I wanted one. Well you see, I don't need one, won't ever need one…because…I have you."

Cameron's expression changed to one of awe at Sarah's softly spoken words, her systems going crazy at the significance and the meaning behind Sarah's gift.

"Sarah…"

Clearing her throat again at the barely whispered reverence in her name, Sarah gripped Cameron's fingers again in a tight grasp, needing to clear her head of her rising emotions. They had a job to do after all and getting all teary eyed was not going to get them closer to finishing it.

"Come on girlie, we'll talk more later. Right now, let's go get this over with because after that, it's my turn to show you how much I really love you."

…

Looking over towards John who was standing beside her, Cameron couldn't help but feel uneasy. Since having watched Sarah drive off on the stolen motorbike earlier, Cameron had been filled with a sense of dread as she stood staring at Sarah's retreating figure in the alleyway, watching until Sarah turned a corner and rode out of sight.

"It's ok Cameron, this is what we do, you know that. We kill the terminator and then go home for dinner, it's just another night." Turning a weak smile onto Cameron's rigid form, John hoped his words sounded believable enough, they were less than convincing even to his own ears.

Looking up towards the roof, Cameron spotted Derek lying low on the scaffolding above, shotgun in hand as he stared intently towards the entrance doors to the steel factory. Spanning her gaze wider, Cameron caught the huge metal beams that housed the conveyor belt and the yawning pit of molten fire at one end.

Running through Sarah's plan in her head again Cameron could feel her systems flare suddenly at all the contingencies that they hadn't planned for. It was a weak plan at best and one that could put everyone in danger, especially Sarah.

"What kind of a plan is 'lure the terminator out by letting him chase me and then you clobber him'?

John snickered involuntarily at Cameron's perfect imitation of his mother's voice as her features twisted into a displeased frown.

"The only one we've got Cameron." Turning serious eyes onto Cameron and then over to Derek, John sighed, "At least the other Sarah's safe now. She should be with the FBI as we speak since Derek dropped her off at the police station earlier, well, as close as he could get to the police station being as he's a wanted fugitive and all."

"Yes, the terminator will not worry about the other Sarah Connor now that he knows she is not the Sarah he is after."

"Do you really think that Cameron? How can you be sure that the terminator won't just go after her again?" John had to be sure; he didn't need another innocent death on his hands, or his mother's.

"Yes I am sure. There is no point. His mission is to find the real Sarah Connor; once he finds her the other one is inconsequential."

John sighed at Cameron's words, the relief evident in his features as he stared out at the cavernous factory in front of him, machinery and steel filling the room to capacity. Shuddering at the molten pit slightly to his left in front of him, John couldn't help but remember the last terminator that had met his death in the same manner. Turning to Cameron and grasping her arm tightly, John waited until Cameron's gaze fell on his.

"Be careful okay Cameron? I don't want to lose any more family."

Cameron's stern features softened at John's words as she reached unconsciously to touch her chest lightly, feeling the comfortable solidity of Sarah's diamond underneath her shirt.

"I will be careful John." Hearing the ringing of her phone from her jacket pocket, Cameron grasped John's hand and squeezed it lightly, "You need to go up to where Derek is now. You will be safer up there."

Giving Cameron one last glance, John turned and walked away, only to pause as Cameron called out softly. Turning to face the girl standing silhouetted against the dim light of the factory, John could see Cameron's posture was now straight and rigid, her features as smooth as marble with a focussed determination.

"It's going to be okay John; I will do everything to protect my family."

…

Turning the corner onto the other Sarah Connor's street, Sarah could feel the raw power of the Yamaha YZF-R6 between her legs, the purring monotone somehow a soothing sound to her tense nerve-endings. Feeling a slight guilt at leaving the owner stranded on the streets of LA in the middle of the night, Sarah pushed it away as quickly as it entered. She had a job to do and a world to save; there was no time for guilt in her life.

Easing the motorbike back even more as the house came into view, Sarah glanced around quickly, trying to spot the terminator she knew was hiding around the area somewhere. When she had discussed this part of the plan with Cameron, Cameron had assured her that the terminator would be hiding somewhere knowing that either the real Sarah would show up again or the other Sarah returning home. Whichever one showed up the terminator would be able to get what he wanted. Idling the motorbike at the curb, Sarah's gaze drifted to the darkened house in front of her.

Reaching into her jacket pocket Sarah placed her hands around the cell phone and pressed the speed dial buttons, letting it ring for a while before hanging up as she mumbled softly to herself, "Come on you bastard, come and get me."

…

"Ellison." Agent Ellison fell silent as he listened intently to the voice on the other end, "Ok, follow her and don't lose her. Get everyone mobile and ready to move at my mark."

Mumbling a quick goodbye Agent Ellison placed the receiver back into the cradle as he grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and made his way to the office door.

He had a fugitive to catch.

…

Gunning the Yahama and kicking it into gear, Sarah took off with a roar as the terminator came running out of the next door neighbour's house. Glancing in the handlebars rear-view mirror, Sarah could see the terminator giving chase with a bland expression on his face.

Feeling another inexplicable wave of sorrow at whoever had lived in that house, knowing that the terminator would have killed them already, Sarah gritted her teeth in determined anger. More innocent lives lost in their fight against Skynet.

Weaving through darkened alleyways and side streets to minimise public disturbance, Sarah throttled it enough just so she could be clear of the terminators reach but slow enough so he wouldn't lose her. Hoping like all hell he didn't have a gun on him, Sarah zigged and zagged from side to side just to make sure she wasn't an easy target.

Seeing the steel factory up ahead, Sarah gunned the motorbike to a full out throttle as she headed towards the entrance. Streaking through the doors Sarah slowed the bike to a halt and quickly turned the engine off as she jumped off and put the bike on to its stand.

Seeing Cameron stand behind the entrance doors with a steel pipe in her hands, Sarah nodded her head minutely in acknowledgement as she grabbed the guns from behind her back and waited. Seeing the terminators running form materialise through the darkened night outside, Sarah fired repeatedly, aiming for his chest. As the bullets hit their mark, Sarah slowly eased her way over to the side watching as Cameron swung the steel pipe at the terminator staggering past her through the doors.

Watching him suddenly fly through the air to land with a heavy thump a few metres away, Sarah ran towards the entrance door and slid them closed, leaving no way for the terminator to escape.

Running towards the terminator now slowly clambering to his feet Cameron swung the pipe down onto his back again, making him stumble to the floor once more. Raising her arms, Cameron swung the pipe towards the terminators head only to have the momentum stop abruptly as the terminator's hand suddenly shot out and held the pipe firmly in his grasp before it could connect. Cameron could feel the reverberations of the pipe against her chest as the machine shoved the pipe hard towards her knocking her off her feet to land on the concrete floor with a loud thump.

Hearing the clattering of the steel pipe rolling away from her, Cameron stumbled to her feet as she glanced over towards the terminator to see him suddenly jerk back as bullets landed heavily into his shoulders and chest. Looking up towards Derek and John's location, Cameron gave Derek a grateful look before turning around wildly to gauge where Sarah had disappeared to.

Seeing Sarah standing behind the terminator at the entrance doors, Cameron breathed out a quick sigh of relief and focussed her attention onto the still advancing terminator. Blocking the arm swinging out towards her, Cameron punched out with her left, connecting solidly with the machine's chin as his head flung backwards on impact.

"Derek, John, get out of here now! Cameron and I will meet up with you at the new location!" Glancing up to see if they had obeyed her shouted command, Sarah saw John hesitate briefly before Derek grabbed his arm and pulled the reluctant boy along behind him. Relieved that John was out of their current danger, Sarah advanced towards the fighting terminator's cautiously, her hands still gripped around the comforting solidity of her guns.

Looking around wildly for something to help Cameron with, Sarah ran over towards a pile of steel pipes stacked on the floor. Stuffing her guns quickly behind her back into the band of her jeans Sarah bent over to pick up a pipe randomly. Hefting it onto her shoulders at the weight of it, Sarah moved closer towards Cameron, keeping an eye out for an opportunity to throw the pipe towards Cameron, not wanting to distract her from the fight with the machine.

Side stepping the right hook coming towards her face, Cameron swung out her legs to sweep the terminator off his feet. Kneeling down as quick as she could, Cameron raised her fists and repeatedly swung down, connecting with the terminators cheek again and again.

"Cameron, catch!"

Looking up towards the shouted command, Cameron raised her arm and caught the steel pipe flying through the air towards her effortlessly. Gripping it firmly in her hands Cameron swung down and hit the terminator squarely on the forehead, the impact making his head bounce back onto the concrete floor. Placing the pipe against the machine's throat, Cameron bent the steel with her bare hands to wrap it around his neck, keeping up the pressure as the terminators body jerked and kicked under her.

Running towards Cameron now pinning the terminator down onto the concrete floor, Sarah grabbed a gun from behind her again and placed the tip against the terminators forehead. Seeing the malevolent red eyes staring up at her, Sarah shivered slightly as she gripped the butt of her gun with both hands. Squeezing the trigger, Sarah fired repeatedly until it clicked uselessly in her hands, staring with hatred into glowing red eyes.

The terminator's body jumped and flinched at the bullets impacting through his metal skull as his grasp slackened from around the pipe wound tightly around his throat, the redness in his eyes blinking off and on, then fading away to a dull black as he went offline.

Breathing in a big sigh of relief at the dead terminator, Sarah placed a hand onto Cameron's shoulder, "Come on girlie, lets…"

"Sarah Connor, this is the FBI, you are surrounded. Come out with your hands up!"

Hearing the sudden voice ringing clearly through the empty factory, Sarah froze and glanced towards Cameron in resignation as the girl slowly rose to her feet her features a mask of icy coldness at hearing the shouted words from outside the factory.

The FBI had finally caught up with Sarah.

TBC…


	6. Chapter 6

_Authors Note:__ I have no idea at all about the landscape of LA so if this section while you're reading it and you're from their makes you think "nah, this place doesn't exist" well you're right. If I wasn't such a lazy writer I'd do some research but since I am, you'll all just have to go with it and suspend your disbelief. It is fanfiction after all :)_

**Part Six**

"Shit they got here faster than I thought they would, you have to get out of here Cameron." Walking swiftly towards the entrance door, Sarah peered out in between the cracks, seeing the rows of police and FBI personnel stationed outside behind open car doors, each holding an assortment of weapons pointed at the factory.

Giving Sarah a furious scowl at her words, Cameron walked over to stand beside her, already having scanned the exterior and noting the location of each person surrounding the building. "Sarah, I'm not leaving you behind."

"Cameron, we talked about this remember? It's part of the plan. You and I both knew that the FBI was going to be watching Sarah's house as well. They know I came in here so they're not going to let me go so easily. You need to go Cameron, they don't even know you're in here since you've lowered your body temperature like we discussed."

"Sarah…"

"Cameron please, we don't have time to argue, you promised that you would go along with this last night. Dump the machine in the fire pit and hide, I'll be ok. They won't harm me if I surrender, they're not terminators."

Turning to give Cameron a reassuring glance, Sarah gripped her arm tightly, willing the girl to listen to her for once and to not argue.

"Listen to me Cameron please. Just stick to the plan. They'll take me to the local police first for lock up and then transfer me to the nearest secure facility. Get John to find out when that occurs and come get me then ok?"

"Sarah Connor, this is your final warning, come out with your hands up."

Distracted briefly at the blared command, Sarah glanced outside again, seeing the armed men moving closer to the entrance, all wearing Kevlar vests and brandishing heavy weaponry. If Sarah wasn't so pissed and worried about Cameron, she'd be flattered that they required so many people and weapons to capture her.

"Cameron you promised." Turning pleading eyes onto Cameron at her refusal to leave, Sarah gripped the girl by the arm in desperation as she reached out to touch the diamond hanging around her neck gently. Sarah knew she was playing dirty but she didn't have time for Cameron to change her mind.

Looking down at the stone clasped in Sarah's hand Cameron's brows furrowed in annoyance at the memories of last night, "Sarah, you extracted that promise when I was distracted."

Sarah couldn't help but smirk at the remarkable resemblance to a cute pout on Cameron's face as she spoke her words.

"Cameron a promise is a promise, regardless of how I got it." Turning serious, Sarah's eyes became solemn, ", "Please Cameron, I love you. I don't want you to get hurt, you're not invincible to all those bullets they have out there. I…I can't live without you."

Seeing the pained look on Sarah's face, Cameron finally relented as she stepped closer and pulled Sarah into a tight embrace as if by holding Sarah as tight as she could Cameron could save her from the inevitable.

"I'll be back for you Sarah." Placing a soft kiss onto Sarah's lips, Cameron finally stepped back with an intense stare and then turned away back to the fallen terminator. Bending down and lifting him up easily, Cameron hoisted him onto her slim shoulders, heading towards the bubbling molten fire.

Turning back to glance at Sarah with one last resolute stare, Cameron turned and walked away, forcing her legs to do as her chip commanded. She had not wanted to agree to this part of the plan, had argued and railed against it all night but in the end she had promised Sarah and Sarah needed her to keep her promise.

"I know you will Cameron, I'm counting on it," whispering softly in reply knowing that the girl would hear her, Sarah turned away from Cameron's retreating back. Kneeling down, Sarah placed her weapons onto the concrete floor in front of her and raised her arms to put her hands behind her head. Clenching her entire body against the intense desire to get up and run, Sarah waited with bated breath for the armed officers outside to storm the building.

This was the only way to protect Cameron.

…...

"Why didn't you tell us Cameron? Tell _**me**_, so we could come up with another plan?"

John's voice was raised in anger as he paced the living room, his frustration clearly evident as he shot an angry glare towards the girl who was standing rigidly in the centre of the room.

"We should have been told." Derek's voice was low as he agreed with John, the barely concealed anger also lacing his words as he shot daggers towards Cameron.

Cameron glanced towards John and then at Derek who was standing in front of her, his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

"Sarah made me promise."

John sighed at hearing the words and the tone of Cameron's voice and stopped his pacing to study the rigid girl in front of him critically. Since arriving at their location, her movements had been stiff and heavy; her face a mask of blandness that John knew was hiding the inner turmoil she was feeling over Sarah's capture.

Knowing that Cameron would have put up one hell of a fight against the idea of letting his Mom get captured, John let the anger towards Cameron dissipate as he relaxed his hunched shoulders slightly. It wasn't Cameron's fault, she would've never readily agreed to the plan; it was his mother's relentless stubbornness that had probably worn her down.

"So, what now?"

"We're going to get her back." Cameron's tone was firm, her expression leaving no choice for any other option as she tried to hide her upset at not having Sarah standing beside her safe and sound.

"How?"

Shooting Cameron an annoyed glare Derek's stance had relaxed marginally as well, seeing the girl's hidden distress at not having Sarah here with her.

"In the morning John you will need to see if you can get into the police station computers, get us some information in when they're going to be transferring Sarah. Right now you both need sleep."

Turning to give them both a blank stare, Cameron walked out of the room clenching her fists to steady her fluctuating systems. Sarah needed her, she did not have the time to hesitate and panic over Sarah's safety. The only thing that was stopping her from storming the police station at this particular moment in time was her promise to Sarah and the fact that the terminator that had been hunting her had been destroyed. The FBI would not harm Sarah, of that Cameron was sure.

Opening the front door and heading outside, Cameron scanned the perimeter taking note of the large expanse of empty space around the house that had no shrubbery or buildings to hide sneaking intruders. Nicely located down a long driveway with no neighbours within walking distance, Cameron was satisfied that Derek had found a relatively decent new location.

Circling around the exterior of the building, Cameron came to a stand in front of the house again, noting the wide veranda that circled the entire building and the front porch steps that led up to the front door. Looking up towards the second storey, Cameron could see the lights on in John and Derek's bedroom, avoiding the blatantly obvious darkened window at the other end of the house.

Knowing that Sarah was not going to be in her room waiting for her, Cameron was reluctant to enter the house, unwilling to face an empty room that would make the pain in her chest that much more unbearable.

At a loss as to what to do without Sarah here, Cameron lifted a hand to touch the warm diamond resting in the valley of her breasts, gripping it tightly in her fingers. Feeling the smoothness of the stone soothing her jumbled and chaotic insides, Cameron conjured up the memories of startling green eyes and a warm and loving smile.

Tomorrow she was going to get Sarah back, there was no other option. Without Sarah's comforting and loving presence beside her, Cameron was lost; a machine that wasn't a machine and one without any meaning to her existence.

…

"So tell me Sarah, where is the man that ran after you into the factory?"

Sarah stared back at the agent sitting opposite her, her face a mask of indifference as her hands gripped her thighs tightly to hide the tenseness in her body.

"You tell me Agent Ellison since you've probably read my file already?"

Raising an eyebrow Sarah glanced around the room, taking note of the bare white walls and the camera hanging from the ceiling in the corner. Apart from the table, the folder in front of Agent Ellison and the two chairs they were sitting on, there was nothing else in the room.

"Ah yes, your file." Reaching for the folder in front of him, Agent Ellison flipped it open and slowly read through the contents, glancing up to stare at Sarah now and again. "Institutionalised at the Pescadero State Hospital for the criminally insane, lost custody of your son John for ten years because you were too mentally unstable to look after him and then there's…the machines. Tell me about the machines Sarah."

Sarah sighed wearily and ran a hand through her hair, despising the calm and stoic face of FBI Special Agent Ellison, knowing that this was all useless, that he would never believe her, they never believed her.

"What do you want to know Agent Ellison? Doesn't my file already tell you everything? Would you believe me if I told you the truth?"

"Why don't you try me?" Closing the folder, Agent Ellison leaned back into his chair and folded his arms over his chest, waiting patiently for Sarah to continue.

Leaning back in her seat as well Sarah studied the Agent silently as she placed her hands on top of the table to grip them lightly together, the clinking of the handcuffs around her wrists reverberating softly in the bare room.

"There are machines sent from the future to kill my son who will one day lead the survivors of mankind against a creation called Skynet who destroys the world on April 19 2011, which we call Judgement Day. The 'man' that was chasing me, he was one of them and I destroyed it."

Reciting the words as if by rote, Sarah placed her hands on her lap and slouched down in her chair, "Do you believe me Agent Ellison?"

"It doesn't matter what I believe Sarah. In the eyes of the law you are a criminal. You have blown up buildings and killed a man."

Still eyeing Sarah critically, Agent Ellison could see that Sarah's supposed nonchalance was an act. The tenseness of her body, the constant tapping of her feet, it all showcased a woman on the edge, one who hated being locked up in a confined space.

"So the man chasing you was a, what did you call them? A Terminator?"

Giving Agent Ellison a smirk in reply, Sarah settled herself more comfortably into her slouch, knowing that he wasn't fooled by her act.

"That's not the question you should be asking me Agent."

"Oh? What question should I be asking then?"

Rubbing her chin in thoughtful silence, Sarah remained silent for a second, contemplating her answer, "If you don't believe me, does it matter?"

Agent Ellison seemed baffled by her question for a minute but then shifted his features into a stoic mask again.

"Does what matter?"

"This whole thing. Why am I wasting my breath repeating things that you've already read in my file?"

Leaning closer to the table now, ignoring the clinking of the handcuffs, Sarah's face was intense as she let her anger bubble to the surface, "Do you know what it's like Agent Ellison to have doctors poke and prod at you, labelling you insane? Do you know what it's like to be separated from your son and everybody telling him you were mentally unstable?"

Taking a harsh breath to steady herself, Sarah continued, "All this," sweeping her hands around the room, "doesn't matter. If I can't stop judgement day, you're all dead anyway."

The room fell silent except for Sarah's heavy breathing, Agent Ellison remained studying her critically from the across the table, unmoved by her words.

"I just want to help you Sarah. I can't help you if you won't let me."

Sarah snorted at the words, the disbelief evident on her face, "Help me? How? By locking me up? By making everybody think I'm crazy and insane? With that kind of help Agent Ellison, I think I'll pass."

Another studied silence, this one longer as Agent Ellison continued to stare at her intently. Finally, dropping his gaze to the folder in front of him again, the Agent opened it and brought out a photo, placing it in front of Sarah face up towards her.

"Do you know who this woman is Sarah?"

Sarah glanced down at the photo of the other Sarah Connor staring back at her but remained silent, her face impassive as she turned her gaze back to Agent Ellison.

"We had no leads for three days since after her abduction but then early yesterday evening, she walks into the local police station out of the blue, giving us a bizarre story about being saved from a strange man who wanted to kill her, but had no idea why."

Reaching into the folder again, Agent Ellison pulled out another photo, placing it beside the first one in front of Sarah.

"What about this woman Sarah? Found dead in her house, neck broken," pulling out another photo, the Agent placed it beside the other two, "Or this woman? Found dead in an alley doorway, neck also broken."

Sarah's face was a frozen mask as she stared at the two dead women in front of her, feeling the guilt of their deaths weighing heavily on her shoulders. Rubbing her eyes tiredly, Sarah leant back in her chair, the familiar clinking of the handcuffs following her movements.

Masking her face into neutrality again Sarah shrugged her shoulders lightly. "I don't know any of these women Agent."

"I would tell you their names Sarah but we both already know that you know what their names are, don't you?

Shrugging again in feigned nonchalance, Sarah was wondering where the Agent was going with this interrogation.

"Are you going to explain their deaths on a machine from the future as well?"

"I didn't kill those women Agent."

"Then who did?"

Eyeing the Agent across from her, Sarah could feel the weariness settling inside her body. Since her capture the night before, she had barely had two hours sleep, thoughts of Cameron and John's safety swimming in her head all night and even Derek making an appearance in her troubled thoughts.

"Ok, how about this woman then? A Mrs Beatrice Clarkson, grandmother of four and great-grandmother to one little Lucy Herbert, suffocated in her own house while she was sleeping. What does she have to do with all this Sarah?"

Sarah closed her eyes as a rush of overwhelming guilt invaded her body at the old woman's face peering up at her from the photo Agent Ellison had placed on the table. Sarah's neighbour, the one Derek had visited the other morning. Cursing inwardly at dragging another innocent victim to their death, Sarah could feel the walls closing in on her.

Chafing at the handcuffs around her wrists, Sarah could feel the edginess inside fighting for control, feel the throbbing of her repressed energy surging through her limbs making her want to leap across the table to overpower the Agent.

Glancing towards the camera in the corner warily Sarah suppressed the desire, knowing that if she did anything rash or stupid to hurt herself, Cameron would never forgive her. She just needed to wait this out, wait until she was transferred so Cameron could come get her. Knowing that there was nothing more she could say, or anything that the Agent would believe, Sarah glanced away from the photos in front of her.

"I'm tired Agent. I've told you all I know and I've given you the answers to your questions. Whether you choose to believe those answers is entirely up to you. I'm done talking."

Crossing her arms over her chest defiantly, Sarah tilted her chin towards Agent Ellison belligerently, her face masked into a firm scowl.

Standing up from the table casually, Agent Ellison leant over and picked up the scattered photos to place them back into the folder flipping it closed as he pushed his chair back. Staring down at Sarah's scowling expression, the agent quirked an eyebrow in response.

"This isn't over Sarah."

Giving the Agent a weary look in return, Sarah's face turned bleak as her thoughts turned to all the people that had died in trying to stop judgement day.

"You're right Agent, it never is."

…

Sitting in the stolen SUV next to Cameron, Derek could see that the girl was tense and worried although her features were masked into its usual blandness. Her hands were clenched tightly in her lap as she stared resolutely out the passenger window, her gaze directed onto the passing cars with an intensity that made her seem like a statue, her body and face so still and silent in her focus.

Since having come to terms with the girl's relationship with Sarah, Derek had been surprised at how noticeable a change Cameron had gone through. Being in love with Sarah had made the girl seem more…human and less machine. Studying her daily interactions Cameron had actually surprised him demonstrating a capacity to feel human emotions that a machine should have never had the ability to grasp.

Derek had been wary at first, the very idea of Sarah being intimately involved with a machine sticking in his throat. His hatred for the very things that had caused so much death and destruction making him suspicious and wary of the girl that had been foisted into the Connor's lives from out of nowhere. But now, sitting next to her in the SUV Derek felt sorry for the girl, which again surprised him as he would have never thought he would ever be feeling anything but hatred towards her.

Looking up towards the rear-view mirror Derek caught the distinctive police van ambling slowly forward and tensed in readiness catching John's worried frown who was sitting in the back seat in the process.

"It's here, coming towards us."

Cameron glanced in the rear-view mirror at Derek's words as he started the SUV, Derek's eyes remaining on the above mirror as he waited for the van to pass. Easing the electric window down on her side, Cameron waited patiently until Derek eased away from the curb to follow the van.

Following at a safe distance behind the police van, Derek waited until it turned down an empty street that was straddling the road running alongside the harbour before gunning the engine and pulling closer behind it.

Easing her body out of the window, Cameron climbed out slowly to settle into a squat onto the hood, her feet placed firmly and flatly to steady herself on the moving car. As Derek eased the SUV closer behind the van, Cameron tensed and with a leap forward, flung herself onto the back of the van, her hands and feet clasping for purchase on the now weaving van as the guards maneuvered the moving vehicle to evade the following SUV behind them.

Hearing shots ring out into the silent street, Cameron grabbed the handle of the back door and with a quick jerk of her wrists, pulled the door off its hinges and flung it carelessly to the side as Derek sped past and slammed the SUV against the side of the moving van.

Hopping inside and spotting Sarah wrestling with Agent Ellison on the floor, Cameron quickly stepped forward, placing her hands against the side walls as the van rocked violently to the left, the squeal of tires ringing loudly in her ears as the driver tried to keep the van on the road.

Picking up Agent Ellison almost casually by the scruff of his neck from on top of Sarah, Cameron threw him against the front of the van, watching dispassionately as he landed with a loud thump.

"Thought you were going to stand me up for our date for a minute there girlie."

Seeing Sarah's smirk and hearing the familiar flippancy to her tone, the tension in Cameron's body started to ease slightly. Balancing herself against the still weaving van, Cameron grabbed a hold of Sarah's arm firmly to help the woman stand, breaking the handcuffs on her wrists and the chain bound around her ankles in the process. Knowing that they didn't have time for a lengthy greeting, Cameron allowed herself a brief caress of Sarah's cheeks softly before pushing her to stand in front of the open doors.

Feeling the solid kick of a foot against her back, Cameron stumbled slightly as she was taken unawares, knocking Sarah in the process as the woman grappled desperately at the side wall to prevent herself from falling out of the still moving van. Catching a hold of Sarah around the waist to steady her, Cameron could see Derek pulling up behind them as close as he could, John's body half outside the passenger window as he tried to aim at the van's tires.

"Sarah, jump." Giving Sarah a slight push, Cameron watched briefly as she landed with a soft thud onto the SUV's bonnet, Sarah's hands and feet splayed out in a star fish pattern to steady herself from falling off. Seeing the SUV slowing down and relieved that Sarah was okay, Cameron turned back towards Agent Ellison who was now holding his gun tightly in his hands.

Hearing Sarah's hoarse cry shouting out her name, Cameron ignored it and charged the Agent knocking the gun out of his hands in the process as he thumped heavily against the wall and slumped over in a dejected heap. Seeing the front panel opening and the barrel of a shotgun easing out from between the partition, Cameron reached out and with a quick jerk, pulled the shotgun and the guard still holding onto it through the partially opened partition. Raising her other hand Cameron placed a light hit onto his chin, enough to knock him out but not to do any serious damage. Crushing the shotgun in her hand, Cameron threw it carelessly onto the floor as she strode forward to the driver's side.

Stepping back quickly as a gun suddenly appeared in front of her face, Cameron just barely managed to dodge the bullet. Reaching her hands back around the partition, Cameron grabbed a hold of the drivers shoulder and flung him across to the passenger's side. Feeling the van swerving wildly out of control with no driver present, Cameron quickly hopped into the driver's seat trying unsuccessfully to get the van under control.

Flinching slightly as something hard landed on to her right shoulder, Cameron turned her head around to see Agent Ellison swinging the shotgun again. Dodging the blow, Cameron's hand jerked on the steering wheel, swerving the van to the left suddenly. Watching through the windscreen as the road barrier came into view, Cameron let go of the steering wheel as she tried to clamber up onto the side window. Feeling the Agent's hand grasping on to her ankle, Cameron gave one last vicious kick making Agent Ellison go flying again back into the left wall.

Holding on desperately to the open driver's window ledge to get purchase so she could scramble out, Cameron suddenly felt the van go airborne as it crashed through the barrier and flew over the side of the road. Feeling the desperation to get free rushing through her systems as the water below came closer and closer at an alarming speed, Cameron hoisted herself up through the window to sit on the ledge. Before she could get her body out any further, Cameron felt the impact of the van hitting the water below and then…nothing…her body catapulting in reaction to the impact and her head hitting the roof with a resounding thump.

Dropping bonelessly onto the window ledge, Cameron's body draped half in and half out of the open window, the van continued its relentless descent into the murky depths below.

TBC…


	7. Chapter 7

**PART SEVEN**

"Cameron! No!" Sarah shouted in horror as she watched the van drive through the fence railing.

Wrenching the SUV door open as soon as it rolled to a stop beside the smashed guard rail, Sarah sprinted to the edge of the embankment to look down at the water below, catching the tail end of the van disappearing gracefully under the water.

"Sarah! We have to get out of here, back up is coming!" Derek jumped out of the car, followed by John as they ran towards where Sarah was standing, panic on her face as she searched desperately for any signs of Cameron.

Just barely registering the wailing sirens in the distance, Sarah ignored Derek's shouted command as she prepared to climb down the embankment catching Agent Ellison's struggling form crawling his way to solid ground down below.

"Sarah!" Grabbing a hold of her left arm, Derek yanked Sarah violently around to face him, seeing the fear and panic showing clearly on her face.

"We have to go! Now!"

"I'm not leaving her behind Derek, she can't swim. You go, take John with you. I'm going down there, Cameron needs me."

Twisting her arm free, Sarah sat down on her backside, preparing to scooch down the rocky embankment.

"Mom! We have to go, please." Looking wildly behind him, John could see the faint glimmer of sirens as the wailing began to creep closer. "Cameron won't want you to stay."

Moving closer John grabbed a hold of Sarah's shoulder, pulling her back before she could progress any further.

Derek's face was rigid as he looked over his shoulders as well, seeing the wavy blur of police vehicles approaching.

"We don't have time to argue. Sarah goddamnit we need to go! Cameron can look after herself!"

Latching onto Sarah's arm as she ignored him, Derek held on tighter, pulling her away from the edge as hard as he could.

"John go start the car, now!"

Bending down Derek wrapped his arm around Sarah's waist and lifted, feeling her resisting as she thrashed around wildly, her arms and legs kicking at him to be free.

"No! Derek, for fucks sake let me go! Cameron! I need to…Derek!"

Derek held on tighter as Sarah continued to yell and scream, her body twisting manically against his hold as her arms and legs continued to flail at him to let go. Giving a pained grunt as her legs connected solidly with his shins, Derek reached out towards the door handle on the passenger door and wrenched it open, trying to shove Sarah inside feet first.

"John don't you dare! Don't you dare do this to me…Cameron!"

Giving John a menacing glare through the open doorway, Sarah braced her feet against the side of the SUV, digging her legs in, trying to resist Derek's manhandling as he tried to pry her legs free.

"Fucking hell Sarah! I don't like this either but we need to go!" Staring frantically over Sarah's shoulders, Derek could see the shape of the police vehicles getting closer, the screaming sirens increasing in volume as they continued towards them, still struggling with Sarah to get her into the vehicle.

"Fuck!"

Dropping Sarah to the ground like a sack of potatoes, Derek scowled as he shook his hand in the air, trying to soothe the pain radiating around his right thumb where Sarah had bit him.

"That's it!" Striding forward purposefully towards Sarah as she turned to run back to the edge; Derek grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around. Raising his right arm as quickly as he could before Sarah could react; Derek swung back and struck down, hitting Sarah solidly on the jaw with a resounding smack.

"Derek!" Shouting in alarm, John jumped out of the driver's seat and ran towards Derek as his mother slumped bonelessly into Derek's arms.

"I had no choice, she's hysterical and we need to go." Lifting Sarah up by the legs, his arms curling around her shoulders, Derek placed her into the backseat as gently as he could. Clambering quickly after his mother, John shifted her head gently and placed it down onto his lap as he slammed the door shut.

Derek ran around to the driver's side and hopped in slamming the door behind him with a panicked flurry. Looking in the rear view mirror and seeing the police vehicles now looming behind him, Derek quickly put the SUV into gear and jammed down the accelerator so hard that the wheels spun wildly, kicking up dust from the gravel on the side road.

Cursing violently to himself, Derek gave one last worried glance towards the back seat and caught John's worried frown as he gazed down at his mother's unconscious form.

Looking up to catch Derek's worried gaze, John bit his lip in consternation as he reached out to brush a rogue strand of hair from Sarah's forehead his worry for Cameron's safety driving spikes into his brain.

"This isn't good Derek, Cameron's not here and Mom's gonna be so pissed when she wakes up."

…

Sputtering and coughing with the water in his lungs, Agent Ellison groaned and got up on to his knees wearily. Taking a quick look around and not seeing anybody else, Agent Ellison quickly stood up shrugging his jacket off and ran back into the water.

Taking a deep breath, Agent Ellison dived under the water swimming towards the van submerged further down. Reaching the back of the van, the agent swam inside heading towards the slumped guard lying on the floor. Grabbing him roughly around his shoulders, Agent Ellison kicked as hard as he could, pulling the heavy weight of the guard behind him. Breaking the surface with a harsh gulp for air, Agent Ellison continued swimming to the shore, feeling his lungs burning at the effort.

Looking up briefly at the embankment as he reached the safe solidity of firm ground underneath his feet, Agent Ellison placed both arms under the unconscious guard and pulled and dragged him further up the shore. Having spotted the uniformed presence of the police scrambling down and running towards him, Agent Ellison remained on his hands and knees as he tried to get more air into his burning lungs.

"Go…two…more." Gasping with the effort to breathe properly and speak at the same time, Agent Ellison pointed towards the water. Sighing in relief as the two policemen standing beside him understood his vague reference as they both continued to run into the water, Agent Ellison gave a soft groan and sat down on his haunches to place two fingers onto the unconscious guard's throat. Feeling the weak pulse beat underneath his fingers, the Agent closed his eyes and sat down heavily onto his backside in relief, staring out towards the water as one policeman's head emerged pulling the second guard's unconscious form behind him.

Seeing the second policeman emerge empty handed, Agent Ellison stood up and walked slowly towards him.

"Did you find her?"

"There's nothing there, I looked all around the van and inside, I couldn't see anybody else sir."

Frowning at the words, Agent Ellison continued to stare out towards the water. He had seen the girl's body draped over the side window as the van continued to go under; she had to be there somewhere.

"Get a diving team here, I want that girl found."

There was something odd about her. There was no way someone of her height and build could have picked him up and flung him so effortlessly inside the van.

Who was the girl and what did she have to do with Sarah Connor?

…

Crawling on his stomach, hand gripping a pair of binoculars tightly, Derek maneuvered his way as close as he could to the edge of the cliff. Dressed in combat fatigues and hidden under the cover of darkness, Derek was relatively secure in the knowledge that he couldn't be detected from down below.

After having evaded the police vehicles successfully and getting back to their house safely, Derek had carried Sarah's still unconscious form into her bedroom. After making sure she was comfortable on her bed, Derek had given John a knowing and determined look before bringing out handcuffs and cuffing her to the head board.

The state that Sarah was in she would never just placidly stay at home when she woke up, not if she was willing to risk capture again earlier to get to Cameron.

Derek sighed softly to himself as he brought the night binoculars up to his eyes looking down intently at the thinning group of police, FBI and diving personnel. He hadn't wanted to hit Sarah but she really had left him no choice and if Cameron was with them she wouldn't have wanted Sarah re-captured either.

Roaming the binoculars around the assembled group, Derek could see Agent Ellison talking on his cell phone as he looked out over the water. Uncertain as to whether he should be pleased or worried that they hadn't found Cameron yet, Derek continued to watch silently as the police van was finally dragged out from below the watery surface.

Although he had not shown it to John, wanting to keep the boy as calm as possible in the aftermath of Cameron's missing presence and his mother's hysteria, Derek was worried. But what had him snorting in disbelief was that he was worried _**for**_ Cameron and _**about**_ Cameron, which was entirely disconcerting to his composure.

But, disconcerting or not, he was.

Admittedly in the beginning he had not trusted the girl, had not trusted her to not turn on them but after having seen for himself the love that she proclaimed to have for Sarah in actual evidence, Derek was convinced. Cameron was all about Sarah, about protecting her and keeping her safe. A blind person would have been able to see that the girl truly did love Sarah, impossible concept or not, it was the truth. And it was this truth that was finally allowing him to let go of his hatred towards what she was.

Cameron was a part of their team…a part of their…family…and their screwed up life. And they needed her…Sarah needed her.

Sighing at the memory of Sarah's earlier reaction to seeing Cameron plummet over the embankment, Derek shivered slightly. He had to get the girl back, if not just to ease his own concerns over her safety but definitely to stave off Sarah's impending break-down if the girl was never found again.

…

"Cameron…"

John glanced up from his chair at the side of the bed as he heard Sarah's soft groan, sitting up straighter as she started to stir awake. Giving her a wary once over John remained silent, waiting for Sarah to acknowledge his presence.

Stirring groggily, Sarah shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs that were clouding her brain. Opening her eyes slowly, Sarah's eyes roamed around the strange room, not recognising her surroundings as she felt the pounding in her brain and the tenderness in her jaw. Turning her head slowly to her left, Sarah breathed a sigh of relief as she saw John sitting on a chair next to her bed. Moving to sit up, Sarah tried to move her right arm to brace against the bed but felt resistance and the feel of cold metal against her wrist.

"John, what the hell is this?" Sarah snarled as she tilted her head and saw the handcuffs around her wrist as she pulled against it uselessly, listening to the metal rattling against the head board.

"Mom…"

"Unlock me…now." Sarah's voice was hard and her eyes like steel as she struggled to sit up, the easy movement hindered by her restraints.

"I haven't got the key." John's voice was low as he avoided his mother's glare.

Cursing a string of obscenities Sarah struggled at the handcuff's trying to pull her wrist free.

"When I see Derek, he's fucking dead…"

"Mom stop it, you're hurting yourself."

John stood up in agitation as he noticed the slowly reddening marks starting to form as Sarah continued to rattle against the handcuffs in vain.

"I need to go; I need to get to Cameron…see…"

Sarah was beyond reasoning with as she continued to struggle harder; her voice rising in panic as thoughts of Cameron came floating into her head.

"John…" Voice desperate now Sarah turned pleading eyes onto John.

Rubbing his chin in worry John sat down slowly beside Sarah on the bed and grasped her free hand firmly in his.

"Mom, you can't go back yet…the police…it's not safe…"

"It's never _**safe**_ John, you of all people should know that," Sarah's reply was automatic as she pulled free of his grasp, rubbing her face in weary tiredness, wincing slightly as her fingers grazed the slight swelling on her jaw she could already feel forming, "but I _**need**_ to go help Cameron, find her. We shouldn't have left her behind."

John's face this time was filled with shame, his abandonment of Cameron had been eating away at him ever since they had returned, his actions of earlier haunting him as he watched his mother's sleeping profile.

"I…I can't just do nothing John…it's…it's my fault that she's gone. I never should've…I should've listened to her when she said no…it's…"

Feeling the tears slipping down her cheeks, Sarah closed her eyes and turned her face away, not wanting John to witness her emotional breakdown.

"Mom…" John's voice was croaky as he felt his own eyes pool with unshed tears. Reaching for her hand again, John gripped it tightly.

"We'll…we'll get her back Mom. Cameron's not gone, she'll be fine, we'll get her back."

John wasn't sure whether the words were for his mother's benefit or his.

"What if we don't? Cameron can't swim what if she's been damaged? Just because she's made of metal doesn't mean she can't be hurt."

Squeezing John's hand tightly in hers Sarah felt the panic starting to overwhelm her again, the desire to rush out of the house to look for Cameron like an electric current shooting through her limbs. Tugging at the handcuffs around her wrist desperately, Sarah could feel the cold metal biting into her flesh.

"Where the hell is Derek?"

"He…he said he'll be back soon."

"Get me a gun." Turning determined eyes onto John, Sarah's voice indicated any protestations would be unwelcomed.

"Mom…"

"Now John, I'm not arguing this with you. Get me a gun; I need to go find Cameron…"

"No Mom, I'm not going to get you a gun. What if you end up shooting yourself by mistake instead of the handcuffs?"

Ceasing her struggles with the handcuffs, Sarah turned steely eyes onto John, his refusal to do as he was told grating on her already raw nerves.

"I want Cameron back too Mom…but, but we can't go back there, not yet anyway. It'll be crawling with police and FBI. You know if Cameron was here she would never allow you to go back for her."

The truth of John's words stung Sarah into silence. John was right; if Cameron was here she would have been icy cold in her disapproval over her behaviour this morning but that was the problem…she wasn't here.

"But she's not here is she John?"

John winced at the harsh tone.

"Now go and get me a gun. I will not be locked up like some lunatic, you got me?" Sarah's voice drifted away as she pulled at her handcuffs again, memories of being locked up in the asylum weighing heavily on her thoughts.

Knowing that his mother was not going to just stop trying to get the handcuffs off John sighed and pulled the key from his pants pocket and climbed over to the other side of the bed.

"I thought you didn't have the key?"

"I wasn't going to let Derek leave the house without giving me the key. I'm not stupid Mom." Reaching over to the handcuffs, John slotted the key into the lock. Before twisting the key to unlock it however, John turned back around to pin Sarah with a fierce scowl.

"Promise me you won't do anything until tomorrow at least?"

"John…" Sarah's patience was running thin as she bit out John's name in a snarl.

"Promise me Mom."

Sighing wearily at the determined glint in John's eyes, Sarah knew that he wouldn't unlock her if he wasn't positive she wasn't going to storm out of the house the minute she was free.

"Fine…I promise," Sarah replied through clenched teeth as she ground her teeth in anger.

Hearing the soft click of the handcuffs unlocking and the metal being loosened from around her wrist, Sarah shook away the pounding in her head and the gnawing ache at her chin. Turning her thoughts to Derek's impending return, Sarah welcomed the distraction. Thinking of ways to torture and kill Derek was more satisfying than worrying and panicking about Cameron's welfare.

…

Stepping through the front door, Derek felt the cold press of metal against his temple and froze, his whole body tensing in sudden reaction to the unknown danger.

"If you _**ever**_ do that again Derek, I _**swear**_ on my life I will kill you."

Hearing Sarah's harsh voice against his ear, Derek held his breath as she pressed the gun firmer against his temple, only to let it go in a soft exhale as the gun was suddenly removed and Sarah stepped away.

Masking his features, Derek moved away from the threshold and closed the door behind him softly, watching Sarah's retreating back as she tucked the gun into her jeans.

"You know I did the right thing, you were hysterical and put all of us in danger. Even Cameron would have agreed with me."

Sarah froze at the softly spoken words, her back tensing in sudden rigidity. Turning around sharply and stalking back to Derek, Sarah's face was a mask of smooth ice.

"You have no idea what she would have wanted, you didn't even _**like**_ her!"

"You're wrong Sarah; I do know what she wants. She just wants you safe." Derek's voice was sad and resigned as he took in Sarah's barely concealed anger towards him.

"And…for the record…Cameron's not too bad…I'm getting used to having her around."

Bewildered and caught off guard at the softly spoken words, Sarah's sudden anger drained out of her body, the adrenalin pumping through her veins disappearing as fast as a broken fire hydrant that was gushing out water. She had had no idea that Derek's opinion of Cameron had changed thinking that he had only tolerated the girl because she had made him.

Turning her back on Derek, Sarah sighed wearily and walked away again, shaking her head at small miracles. Maybe Derek wasn't such an ass after all if he was willing to finally accept Cameron into their lives…but that didn't mean she still couldn't play with him a little.

Pushing away her worrying thoughts of Cameron Sarah grinned a small evil smile to herself and drawled out nonchalantly into the night as she continued on walking, "You do know right, that when Cameron finds out you hit me and cuffed me to the bed…"

Sarah's threat was left unspoken and hanging in the air but clarification wasn't needed as Derek gulped in apprehension at the sudden words, wondering if he could somehow not be here before Cameron came back. 

…

"Hello Sarah, thank you for coming in today."

Agent Ellison glanced over towards the woman in question sitting on the couch in his office, her features and body show casing a palpable nervous tension he could feel oozing from her pores.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?"

Seeing the woman nod in silent acceptance, James turned towards the coffee machine in the corner and poured two cups before making his way back to Sarah. Placing one cup gently in front of her and sitting down with his own, he could see Sarah was trying to mask her jittery nerves.

"How, how can I help you Agent?" Giving the Agent a nervous stare, Sarah quickly picked up the coffee cup and diverted her attention towards it, glad to have the chance to have something to do to escape the Agent's piercing stare.

"I just wanted to clear up some confusion on my part that's all Sarah. I want to go over your story again, the one you told the police officers at the precinct. I need to include it in my report."

Taking a sip from his coffee cup, James placed it down in front of him and sat back in his chair, his hands clasped firmly on his stomach as he continued to study the woman in front of him.

"Oh? Confusion? I don't understand. I've told the police officers all I know. I was rescued from the man trying to kill me and taken to an unknown location. They blind folded me so I couldn't see." Bringing the cup to her lips, Sarah shuffled nervously at the lie as she took a small sip of her coffee and brought it down to rest gently on her knees.

"That's what I want to talk about. Who rescued you?" Leaning forward slightly, the Agent kept his eyes glued onto Sarah, "You do know it's a federal offence to lie to an FBI Agent Sarah?"

"Li…lie?" Stuttering at the word, Sarah shuffled again in nervousness.

"You said you couldn't describe them, that they were strangers to you," Leaning back into his seat again, James continued softly, "You were with them for three days. I find it hard to believe that they kept you blindfolded for that long."

Fiddling with the cup on her knees Sarah avoided the Agents eyes, knowing that he could sense she was lying. Taking a deep breath, Sarah swallowed apprehensively and glanced up to pin Agent Ellison with a determined look, "They saved my life Agent, they didn't hurt me. They were trying to protect me, protect the world actually."

Falling silent abruptly at her words, Sarah glanced away from the unmoving face in front of her. The Agent's face betrayed nothing at her small slip.

Rubbing his chin in thoughtful silence, Agent Ellison suddenly stood up and walked over towards his desk. Grabbing a folder that was sitting on top of a pile of paper, James walked back to Sarah again and sat down once more. Flipping the folder open, the Agent picked up a photo and placed it on the coffee table in front of him and pushed it slowly towards Sarah.

"Is this the woman that saved you?"

Sarah tensed as she caught herself staring into the features of Sarah Connor. Glancing quickly towards James who was still staring at her intently, gauging her reactions, Sarah glanced away again and placed the coffee cup down on to the coffee table.

"I've never seen that woman before in my life."

Narrowing his eyes at the blatant lie, the only sign that Agent Ellison was losing his patience, James opened the folder again and brought out another photo placing it beside the first one.

"How about this boy then?"

Not having to look at the photo to know that it would be John, Sarah gave it a quick cursory glance and shook her head in silent denial.

"Why are you so loyal to her Sarah? What did she tell you to make you believe her story?"

"Agent…"

Interrupting abruptly, Agent Ellison leant forward his face still encased in a neutral mask, "Sarah told me a story as well. Do you want to know if it matches yours?"

Not giving the woman a chance to reply, James continued on swiftly as he continued to study Sarah intently, "Apparently there are machines sent back from the future to kill her son. Not only that, she also has to stop Judgement Day from occurring otherwise a machine called Skynet will blow up the world."

Falling silent, James waited patiently as he caught Sarah struggling with something internally.

"If you know that, then why ask me here?" Sarah stated softly as she gave the Agent a guarded look.

"Because I want to know who that man was that was trying to kill you and who the girl is that's hanging around Sarah Connor."

Stiffening again at the mention of Cameron even if the Agent had no idea who she was, Sarah chewed her lip in sudden anxiety.

"Sarah's already told you there are machines sent back to kill her and her son, the man trying to kill me was a machine Agent."

"And the girl?" The Agent held his breath, knowing that Sarah could give him the answers he needed.

"I don't know anything about a girl."

Cursing internally at the woman's continued stubborn loyalty to the Connor's; James clenched his jaw in frustration.

"If I told you I believed Sarah, would you tell me then?"

"And how would I know that that wasn't just a ploy to get me to say something I shouldn't?" Biting her lip again at her slip in admitting that she knew something, Sarah narrowed her eyes at the Agent. He was good, she would give him that.

"You know I could lock you up for obstruction of justice, harbouring a wanted criminal…"

"But you won't." Sarah suddenly sat upright, a proverbial light bulb going off in her head as she finally realised why she was here, sitting in the Agent's office instead of in an interrogation room somewhere. Special FBI Agent Ellison really did believe Sarah's story. He wasn't trying to put Sarah away by gaining more information from her, he was trying to understand a story that he was slowly beginning to believe in, even if he didn't want to.

Agent Ellison tensed at Sarah's words but remained silent as he noticed her demeanour suddenly change. The nervousness of before had completely disappeared from her small frame to be replaced with a startling confidence as she continued to gaze at him unwaveringly.

"You're just like me aren't you Agent? You already believe? There's too much evidence in front of you to ignore any longer, too many inconsistencies to be swept under a handy excuse as mentally unstable isn't there?"

This time it was Agent Ellison's turn to avoid her gaze as he slowly got up from the couch and walked over towards the window, looking out at the bright sunny day through the tempered glass. Clasping his hands behind his back, the Agent remained silent as he absorbed Sarah's words.

"I don't _**want**_ to believe."

The words were so soft and quiet Sarah nearly missed them from where she was sitting studying the Agent's back intently.

"But you do, don't you?"

The room fell silent but Sarah knew there wasn't anything more that needed to be said. Agent Ellison already had the answers he was searching for, he just now needed to understand that it was all true.

TBC…


	8. Chapter 8

**Part Eight**

The girl opened her eyes slowly and groggily shook her head in dazed confusion as she took in her surroundings. She was half submerged in water, her lower body feeling the wetness of the waves lapping at her thighs and calves. Struggling onto hands and feet she shook her head slowly again, feeling the tenderness of her forehead at her actions. Raising a hesitant hand to feel the tender lump as she sat up on her knees, the girl winced as the pain flared briefly at her touch then subsided to a low throbbing that was beating in time to the headache she could feel starting from behind her eyes.

Closing her eyes briefly the girl rubbed at them slowly, hoping that it would clear the confusion in her head. Ignoring the headache and the dull throbbing from the lump on her forehead, she glanced around to study her surroundings curiously. Up above about a metre away from where she was kneeling, she could see the dense undergrowth of trees and shrubbery surrounding the rocky shore. Spanning her gaze wider first to the left then to the right, the girl could see that the undergrowth spanned the expanse of the rocky shore in a wide arc for about a hundred metres in each direction.

Not seeing any other people or dwellings in her quick scan, the girl stood up finally on shaky legs, stumbling slightly as a wave of nausea hit her senses. Bending over quickly to place her hands on her thighs she started to inhale and exhale deeply to quell the rising vomit she could feel beginning to make its way up her throat. Closing her eyes she continued to breathe in and out until her stomach finally settled enough to stand up fully.

Feeling the waves lapping at her ankles, the girl suddenly shivered as she became aware of the cold breeze wafting in the slowly darkening sky. Wrapping her arms firmly around her chest to subdue the shaking in her body in reaction to the cold settling into her bones and the wet clothing clinging to her skin, the girl trudged wearily up the shore towards the tree lined vista.

Stifling the overwhelming panic and fear that was starting to grip her at the sudden realisation that apart from knowing her name, she had no idea of who she was and how she had ended up lying face down on a rocky shore half submerged in water with a lump on her forehead that was still throbbing like a truck had slammed into her. Her name was Alison and that was all that she could remember. Everything else in her head was a confusing blank of black and grey as intermittent wisps of memories bounced and collided at the edges of her mind trying to break through the thick layer of fog that was bracketing her from remembering anything beyond now.

Making her way further into the underbrush, Alison could feel her body starting to tremble slightly as fear began to creep in on her. Pushing away the fear Alison focused on putting one foot in front of the other with gritty determination welcoming the distraction from her precarious situation. Breathing a huge sigh of relief as she finally stumbled through the thick undergrowth to see a gravelled road; Alison looked around briefly and turned left to walk alongside the road.

She had no idea where she was going, just that she needed to find somewhere warm before she froze to death and get a change of clothing. Hoping that this was the way back to civilisation Alison trudged along despondently, her arms wrapped firmly around her chest again to keep warm.

Feeling a light tug around her neck, Alison stopped walking and groped around her neck in the now waning light of early evening. Pulling out the necklace that she hadn't been conscious of before now, Alison held the solitaire diamond pendant up to the sky to get a better look.

The silver chain was held together by double links, each link entwining together to give it a solid durable appearance. The stone itself was encased in a four pronged basket that held the solitaire diamond snugly in its claws which tapered up into a vertical V loop where the chain linked through. Catching the sparkling shine of the stone in the ever decreasing light, Alison was genuinely impressed despite not knowing how she had come to have such a beautiful gift around her neck. Even if she didn't know anything about the cut and clarity of diamonds, it looked expensive and she was pretty sure that whoever had given it to her had obviously held her in high regard.

Palming the stone absently, Alison sighed and continued walking, the full darkness now giving her something else to worry about. She needed to find shelter and a warm change of clothing before she could even give time to wonder about her lack of memories.

Amnesia or whatever this was she was experiencing had to wait. Her name was Alison and that was all she needed to know for now.

...

After walking for a little while longer, Alison had managed to get a ride from an out of town couple that were making their way into the city for their weekly evening of dinner and a movie. Keeping her explanations to the older couple as brief as possible, stating that it was a practical joke gone wrong, Alison had managed to avoid their curious questions. Although not wanting to get into an in-depth conversation about who she was and where she was from, Alison was grateful for the ride and the warmness of the car. Feeling her chilled body relaxing in the comfortable interior and letting the conversation between the couple wash over her, Alison had managed to gain some insightful information as she eavesdropped shamelessly on what they were saying to each other.

She was in Los Angeles and although that prospect should have scared her even more, Alison had found herself to be surprisingly comforted by that knowledge. The city for some reason or other had garnered a feeling of familiarity, something that had been sorely lacking since she had come to. And now here she was, sitting on a lumpy bed with threadbare sheets, staring at a grey wall with ripped and tattered wallpaper trying to make sense of how she had ended up in LA never mind waking up in dirty water.

Picking up the only property she had on her from between her breasts, Alison held the diamond to the yellowy light shining down from the ceiling, her face creasing into a furrowed frown. Twisting and turning the stone as if it would shed the answers she was looking for, Alison could only sigh in frustration as the memories refused to surface.

How had she gotten it? Where did it come from? Palming the sturdy diamond between her fingers, Alison shifted restlessly against the wall as she lifted her knees against her chest and placed her weary head to rest against them. Feeling the tenderness of the lump on her forehead flaring in protest Alison sat up a little straighter, more than confused in how it had got there in the first place. There must be someone out there who knew her, who obviously loved her judging by the jewel in her hand, but who…and where?

She had toyed with the idea of going to the police but something inside her head, a sixth sense that she couldn't shake, had made her change her mind about the idea. So now here she was in the only place that would give her shelter without asking her questions that she wasn't able to give answers to, a halfway house that gave shelter to lost and broken runaways.

Although the staff had been curious, no questions had been asked, a situation that was probably born more out of experience rather than any politeness on their part judging by the other inhabitants that Alison had managed to avoid any contact with. The other teenagers appeared far more shiftier and seedier than even she had looked in her damp and muddy clothing. After reluctantly subjecting herself to the careful ministrations of a concerned staff member, she had pretty much been left alone. They had provided her with food and clothing with no more lengthy words other than to tell her where the showers were and where she was to sleep.

Without any further distractions of having to find shelter and warm clothing Alison was finding that she now had more than enough time to mull over the events that had led her to being here. And although she didn't want to admit it, even to herself, she was scared…utterly and morbidly scared. She had no idea of who she was other than her name and she had no one to whom she could turn to. The police were out of the question and with no money on her to speak of, apart from the diamond she was holding firmly in her hand; Alison had no idea what to do next.

How long could she stay here without people asking questions? Wanting answers that she couldn't give? Why did the idea of the police fill her with such distrust? And why did the diamond that she was clasping in her fingers like a life raft fill her with such a profound sense of comfort?

Hearing shuffling outside the bedroom door, Alison quickly shoved the stone back underneath her shirt, knowing that in a place like this flaunting something that was so obviously expensive was just asking for trouble. Shifting lower down the mattress, Alison laid down and pulled the blanket over her head to face the wall, not wanting to talk to whoever was her roommate.

If she could just close her eyes and sleep maybe tomorrow would be a better day.

Maybe tomorrow she would remember who she was and where she was supposed to be.

Maybe tomorrow she would understand the significance of the comfort she gathered from the diamond around her neck.

And maybe tomorrow if she was really lucky she would also understand why the brief flashes of green eyes that she was getting off and on throughout the evening was leaving her with a yearning so deep it was leaving an unexplained aching in her chest.

Ignoring the rooms other occupant as they shuffled restlessly in the bed opposite hers, Alison fell into a restless sleep, her hand moving to the diamond unconsciously. As confusing and unsettling images of guns and shining metal floated in and out of her dreams, Alison's fingers were unknowingly gripping and ungripping the stone held in her hand reflexively.

...

"How many times are we going to go back Sarah? How many times do you want us to keep looking when we all know that Cameron's not there?"

Derek's voice was hard and confrontational as he stood in front of Sarah in the living room, his arms crossed over his chest in challenge barring her from leaving as he glared at her in annoyance.

"Until we find her Derek! We will keep looking until we find her." Sarah's voice was steely, her determination to make Derek see reason the only thing keeping her hysteria in check.

They had been back to the crash site everyday for over three weeks and still there was no sign of Cameron anywhere. It was as if the girl no longer existed, her disappearance as random as her appearance in their lives and Sarah was beyond the point of panic, the not knowing eating away at her insides.

"And what if we don't?" Derek's question was a thunderous roar in the deafening silence that followed as he relaxed his stance and stared at Sarah in sympathy.

John held his breath, taking in his mother's frozen form as Derek's words registered in her brain. He had been standing silently in the background while his uncle and mother had been verbally sparring with each other for the last half hour. Derek wanting to forego a fruitless search that had yielded no results whereas his mother had wanted to continue looking, wanted to return to the last place that she had seen Cameron whole.

It was painful watching his mother's grief, watching her slowly lose interest in everything except finding Cameron, refusing to eat and unable to sleep. There had been many nights that he had woken up to find her bedroom door open and her lonely figure sitting outside on the porch steps watching the open driveway leading away from the house intently. It was as if she was waiting, silently and longingly, sitting vigil for a girl that she desperately wanted to show up.

"I'm not playing the what if game with you Derek, we _**will**_ find her." Sarah turned on her heels and tried to storm out of the room only to be stopped abruptly by Derek as his hand clamped down onto her arm, holding her in place.

"Sarah! Think about it. Your worry over Cameron is clouding your judgement. _**Cameron is not there**_, not anymore."

Sarah glanced down at the firm hold on her arm and then back up to Derek's determined glare, "Let go of me."

"Damnit Sarah! _**Listen**_to me!" Derek placed both his hands onto Sarah's shoulders this time and looked her squarely in the eye, "Cameron is not at the crash site. She's gone."

Sarah visibly shuddered at the last words, her mind rejecting the very thought that had been plaguing her incessantly since Cameron's disappearance. She didn't want to believe it, refused to accept it but as the days then the weeks drew by with no sign of Cameron anywhere, her resolve was becoming thin, her absolute belief that Cameron would suddenly walk down the driveway beginning to wear down.

Shrugging off her doubts as quickly as she shrugged of Derek's hands Sarah backed away angrily, running her shaking hands through her hair in agitation. She couldn't think like that, couldn't let her fears win because if she did...

"She's not gone Derek, Cameron will be back. We just need to find her, find out what the hell happened. She's got to be damaged somewhere or she'd be home by now..." Sarah's voice trailed off as she paced the room with restless energy, darting concerned glances between John and Derek.

She refused to believe that Cameron had left her, would leave her, not after everything they had been through together. It just didn't make sense. Cameron would return if she could so that left only two options. Either she was seriously damaged and lying broken somewhere or the FBI had found her and locked her up. As ludicrous as the last thought was Cameron wasn't invincible. She could be captured if someone knew about her chip, knew how to remove it. Cameron could be terminated; maybe not as easily as a human being but if someone knew how she could still definitely be terminated.

Her mind now reeling at the sudden nauseating thought, Sarah stopped her restless pacing and backed against the wall for support, her breaths coming in short sharp gasps as she tried to get air into her lungs, feeling the hysterical panic trying to take over her body. Bending over with hands on knees, Sarah's vision began to fade, the edges blurring and clouding as images of Cameron's lifeless body began to invade her head.

"Mom!" Rushing over in panic John wound his arms around Sarah's shoulders to steady her as he took in the sudden whiteness to her features.

Derek moved closer also, concern etched onto his stern countenance at Sarah's obvious distress.

Sarah could feel John's arms around her shoulders as she fought to control her breathing, fought to stable her fading vision and push away the nightmarish images of Cameron's lifeless body. She couldn't give in to her doubts and fears, couldn't give in to the overwhelming helplessness that kept invading her as night settled in and there was still no sign of Cameron.

John could feel the body trembling under his touch, the shaking in his mother's limbs as she fought against whatever sudden thought that had caught her in its terrifying grip.

"Mom..." John felt helpless, he wanted to desperately help but he didn't know how. This was the first time he had seen his mother so broken, so gripped in her desperation to find Cameron that she had lost her usual steely focus and strength since she had learnt about Skynet and Judgement Day.

"I'm...I'm okay." Finally getting herself under control again, Sarah slid upright on shaky legs taking in John and Derek's concerned gazes in front of her.

"Sarah..."

"It's ok Derek, I get it." Taking a deep breath Sarah moved away from the wall and turned solemn eyes onto the ex-resistance soldier in front of her, a silent understanding and apology passing between the two as they stood staring at each other.

"So what now?" John glanced cautiously first to Derek then to Sarah as he took in the silent communication in front of him. He knew something important had just passed between his mother and Derek and if whatever it was made them both work together in bringing Cameron back sooner, he was all for it.

Raising an eyebrow Sarah turned her attention onto John with resolute sureness as the last horrifying images of Cameron lifeless faded away with the identical looks of determination looking back at her, "Ok, this is what I want you both to do."

...

Hunching her shoulders into the gifted jacket that was a size too large, Alison kept her head down as she ambled down the bustling city street. Avoiding the other pedestrians as much as she could by sticking to the very edges of the sidewalk close to the buildings, Alison pulled her jacket around her tightly as if trying to shield herself from the world at large.

She had been walking the streets for most of the day trying to find landmarks that would hopefully jar something in her fog confused mind. Something that would scream out at her and catch her attention, making her remember what she had lost. But after a full day of non-stop walking with intermittent rests in between Alison was coming to realise that it was futile, her efforts gaining her nothing but blisters on her feet and a bone deep weary tiredness in her body.

Visiting the library, after being told where it was from a helpful volunteer at the shelter, had yielded no results either. Perusing the newspapers for articles on missing or runaway teens had turned up nothing; it was as if no one had even known she was gone or had missed her in their lives. If she had not had the comforting weight of the diamond around her neck, Alison would have given up, would have disappeared into the background amongst the sea of other lost and desperate faces, their hopes of finding something or someone who would claim them and love them lost in the fickle winds of fate.

Shrugging her melodramatic thoughts away, Alison rolled her eyes in silent amusement as she stepped out of the way of a hurrying businessman carrying a briefcase, his suit, shirt and tie so brand new and crisp they seemed to sparkle in the afternoon sun. Dismissing the hurrying man as soon as he was out of sight, Alison waited at the pedestrian lights on the street corner and studied the late afternoon traffic.

Traffic was beginning to build, people waiting patiently and impatiently for the lights to turn green, horns blaring loudly here and there and a sense of urgency pervading the afternoon air. Bustling people rushing to and fro, trying to get home to be with their children, their spouses, their lovers, their family. Everybody looked as if they had a place to be, a place to rest their heads after a full day's activities…everyone except her.

Los Angeles had a population of 3,694,820 people Alison knew, having discovered that bit of random information at the city library, surely at least one person knew who she was? How was it possible that no one had raised a red flag in the time she had left the rocky shore behind? It was over three weeks now and she was still not any closer to finding out who she was, did no one really care for her?

In an impetuous desire to know something about herself, Alison had found her way to the city's police station but had stood staring at the building from across the street in uneasy hesitation. She had willed her feet to move, willed her legs to obey the command her brain was sending but they had refused, becoming frozen to the pavement. Something was stopping her from trusting the one thing she should trust. Was she in some sort of trouble? Had she committed a crime that her subconscious was trying to protect her from? Why was she so wary of the men and women who were supposed to protect these city streets and the citizens in it?

Shuffling along despondently as the little walking man finally turned green, Alison surged along with the rush of people around her. Lost in her thoughts and having no destination in mind she allowed her feet to take her where they wanted. Feeling the light brush of someone accidentally stumbling in to her, Alison moved out of the way and walked as quickly as she could to a less crowded street.

It didn't matter where she went. One building was the same as another in this strange world she had found herself in.

...

Opening the apartment door as slowly as she could without making any noise Sarah glanced quickly down the hallway, making sure none of the neighbours were around to witness her breaking and entering.

Stepping through the door and inside the apartment, Sarah closed the door softly with a soft click. Locking it behind her she glanced around the room, taking note of the sparsely furnished living room that housed a couch, coffee table and lamp. Glancing over towards her left, Sarah noticed the kitchen through the small window that separated the area from the living room. Making her way further inside the apartment, Sarah turned right into another room seeing the bed sitting in the far left and a small nightstand beside it. Further up ahead through an open door was a bathroom. Roaming her eyes around the once again sparsely furnished room Sarah took in the bare walls and simple bedspread testament to a man living with no female influence.

Walking out of the bedroom and back into the living room, Sarah made her way over to stand by the front door again, her back to the wall. Pulling her gun from behind her back, Sarah gripped it tightly in her hand as she waited for the occupant of the apartment to return home.

It was time she took action.

...

"Hey girlie, what's a little thing like you doing out and about in a place like this? Don't you know that it's dangerous?"

Hearing the sudden words cutting through her wandering thoughts Alison froze in her steps and turned around, watching the approaching men warily. The endearment had a familiarity that was niggling at her consciousness but seeing the menacing form of the strange men in front of her and the leering quality in their features, the odd familiarity was quickly replaced by one of fear.

Keeping an eye on the still approaching group, Alison swallowed her fear and started to back away cautiously, her eyes swinging wildly from side to side as the alley walls started to close in on her. Lost in her thoughts, Alison had no idea where she was, surprised to find herself in an alley that was hidden away from the bustling streets of downtown LA.

Watching their menacing advance warily, Alison could feel her heart rate accelerating at the obvious threat in front of her. They were all scarily big with muscles rippling in the faint light shining down from the one light bulb in a nearby doorway. All were sporting various tattoos displayed proudly along their arms and necks where skin showed through under their dirty t-shirts. Catching the faint gang insignia on their jackets, Alison's entire body clenched in overwhelming fear knowing that they would not leave her alone until they got what they wanted.

"I…I have to go." Moving back as fast as she could Alison kept her eyes firmly on the three men who were now beginning to spread out around her.

"What's your hurry sweetness? We could use some company." The leader of the group advanced closer, his eyes raking up and down Alison's svelte frame leeringly.

Tensing even more in alarm at the obvious intention in the man's word's and gaze, Alison turned to run only to find her path blocked by the other two men who had made their way around her without her realising. Turning back to the still advancing man, his hulking frame blocking any escape, Alison kept on backing away cautiously only stopping as she felt hands clamping down onto her shoulders and arms.

"Please, I…I need to go." Looking around wildly for help, Alison began to struggle against the hands holding her still as she felt the leader's meaty paws reaching out for her top.

"No, please…"

Struggling now in desperation against the hands holding her in place, seeing the man moving closer as his hands reached around to grip her neck to pull her head down, his lips crushing against hers brutally.

Nearly vomiting at the foul odour invading her senses as she felt his lips crushing hers cruelly, the hard lips smashing against hers, Alison continued to struggle violently trying to free her arms from their captive hold as she twisted her head from side to side, kicking out vainly in an attempt to get free.

"Fucking hold the bitch still you useless bastards!" Growling harshly at the two men behind her, the man suddenly grabbed her by the top of her jeans, his hands fumbling at her zipper.

Feeling the fingers struggling to pull her zipper down Alison increased her struggles with a desperate panic. With a final twist and jerk, Alison flung her arms out, her fear now fuelling the surge of adrenaline running through her body. Feeling the hands on her shoulders and arms behind her suddenly loosen and disappear altogether, Cameron froze and swung her head around to find the two men holding her slumped against the alley wall on the ground. Turning back around to watch the man in front of her in surprised horror, Alison could see his face turning to one of incredulous anger at her actions as his hands continued to hold her in place by the top of her jeans.

"How the fuck did you do that bitch?"

Shaking in renewed fear and now confusion, Alison tried to back away, attempting to free herself from his hold on her jeans.

"Oh no you don't." Striding forward the man freed his hands from her jeans and clutched Alison's wrist in a hard grip digging his fingers brutally into her skin. Struggling again to free her wrist from his relentless grip, Alison's head suddenly flung back as the man raised his hand and struck her sharply on her right cheek.

"Stay still," the man grunted harshly as he groped at Alison's zipper again.

"No!"

Swinging her arm wildly, Alison swung desperately and connected solidly with the man's head, sweeping him off his feet to land against the alley wall with a loud thump. Seeing him slump to the ground Alison stood in shock, her hands covering her mouth in horror. Stumbling back in fear and confusion and with her cheek throbbing painfully where it was struck, Alison gave one final stare towards the slumped men on the ground and ran, her head swimming at what she had done.

Sprinting frantically down the alley towards the exit, tears flowing freely down her cheeks in shock and horror Alison had no idea where to go and what to do. Who the hell was she and why could she not remember anything?

TBC...


	9. Chapter 9

_**Author's Note: **__The character of Riley in my story is not based on the TV series at all. I only used her because I like the name and the actress that plays her in the series. This Riley has no knowledge of machines and is not from the future. She exists in this timeline in her own right and her story is all from my imagination _

_

* * *

_**Part Nine**

Entering the women's homeless shelter hesitantly, John glanced around uncertainly to take in his surroundings. The walls were peppered with all kinds of after school special posters warning about the dangers of drug abuse, alcohol abuse and the perils of unprotected teenaged sex. Grimacing at the last poster John wandered his gaze around the small foyer, spying a rack of pamphlets in one corner of the room and along the back wall a small bookcase filled with children's books and more informational pamphlets. Standing to the left of the book shelf was a sorry looking palm tree, its leaves brown and wilted, drooping in the stifling heat of the small room. To the right of the palm tree was a doorway to what John guessed was the inner sanctum where he probably wouldn't be allowed to just walk through.

Spotting a small grey haired woman with horn rimmed glasses manning a partitioned counter, John walked over to stand in front of her, putting on the most charming smile he could muster as she stared over her glasses sternly at him.

"Hello young man, how can I help you?"

Swallowing nervously at the old woman's no-nonsense gaze, John could feel his palms break out in a sweat. There was something about authoritative women and their hard stares that instantly turned him into a fidgeting ten year old boy again.

"Um…I'm trying to find my friend. She um, she might be here but I'm not sure, she's um, about 5 feet 8 inches, chest length brown hair, brown eyes. Have you seen anyone of that description?"

The old woman raised her eyebrow and tilted her head down to peer intently at John over her glasses, as if weighing his threat level. Obviously seeing something that she didn't like the old woman cleared her throat and turned away, walking over to the filing cabinet behind her, effectively dismissing him.

"I haven't seen anyone of that description no, sorry."

John cursed internally at being dismissed so abruptly, "Please, I just want to know if you've seen someone like her. She's very important to us and we've been searching all over the city for her."

The old woman turned back at his pleading tone, seeing the sincerity to his words on his face. Studying him intently again, the woman finally replied, "Look son, I can't tell you if I've seen someone like that here or not but if I do, I'll give her a message ok? Give me your contact details and if someone like who you described comes in, I'll let her know you're looking for her."

Knowing that he wasn't going to get any more help from the woman in front of him, John sighed and handed over his contact number and turned to walk out of the small foyer in resignation. This was the third establishment that he had been to and although they weren't exactly downright uncooperative, they weren't exactly that forthcoming either in their helpfulness. Spotting the dark Toyota Tacoma that was parked outside the building with Derek sitting inside waiting, John made his way over.

"No luck, no one's seen or heard of anyone close to Cameron's description, but that doesn't mean anything. Battered woman's shelters aren't usually forthcoming with that kind of information to strange men that turn up on their doorstep asking if they've seen so and so." Sliding into the passenger seat of the truck John closed the door behind him with an aggravated sigh.

"Do you really think that we'll find Cameron in places like these? Why would a terminator, one that's in love with your mother to boot, be hiding out in shelters when she could be at home with Sarah?"

Giving John an aggrieved sigh, Derek reached for the keys and switched the engine on, leaving it to idle gently while studying the passing traffic in the waning light of the day.

"We didn't tell you this before but a while back Cameron had an…episode. She lost her memory and thought she was somebody else, human. I think Mom's just covering all the bases now."

"Why wasn't I told this?" Turning to give John a scowl, Derek gripped the steering wheel in anger.

"We decided it was best that you didn't know, it would've only added fuel to your already raging fire at the time." John returned the scowl with a knowing look as he buckled his seatbelt.

Sighing in resignation at John's words Derek forcibly relaxed his composure knowing that John and Sarah had had a good reason to keep Cameron's temporary memory loss from him. His antagonism back then towards Cameron would have only made him want to terminate her even more. Glancing in the side mirror, Derek caught a gap in the traffic and eased out as quickly as he could, the early evening traffic already starting to congest.

"What's Sarah doing by the way while we're out beating pavement?"

"You know Mom, she only tells us what she wants us to know so your guess is as good as mine. All I know is what she told you and me to do."

Grunting his displeasure at the answer Derek remained mute as they merged into the heavy traffic making their way to their next shelter before night settled in. Sometimes Sarah took to being the leader of their little group a little too freely, how was he supposed to effectively help her if she never bothered to tell him what she was up to half the time?

* * *

As Alison approached the shelter she spotted a dark Toyota Tacoma pulling away from the curb but paid no heed to it, it was just another vehicle amongst many in LA and it was of no importance to her. Still reeling from her near-escape earlier and what she had done her only thought now was to find somewhere safe for the night. Feeling her insides trembling and her cheek still throbbing slightly Alison clenched her hands tightly as she tried to will away the horrifying thoughts of what could have happened if she had not managed to escape.

Climbing up the steps wearily Alison resisted the temptation to pull out her necklace to hold it in her hands, it was the only thing that gave her comfort in her amnesia filled world at the moment. For some reason she could not fathom, just holding the heavy diamond in her hands soothed her fears, made her worries seem less somehow. It was her only comfort in a world that was strange and cold.

Ignoring the chattering voices and the people around her Alison made her way further into the open communal area, keeping her head low and her body hunched over so as not to bump into anybody by accident. Her first week in a place like this Alison had discovered that the best way to stay out of sight and out of trouble was to just ignore everybody and try to be as invisible as possible; she couldn't afford to bring attention to herself.

As she walked past the TV blaring loudly in the corner of the communal area, the news report suddenly caught her attention. Walking slowly towards the TV, Alison could feel the same tingling familiarity that had invaded her earlier hitting her again as she listened intently to the voice reading out the latest headlines.

_Fugitive Sarah Connor is still on the loose after escaping police custody while she was being transferred from the Los Angeles Police department to an unknown secure FBI location three weeks ago. There are no further comments this time as to who else was involved in the escape but authorities are warning members of the public that she is armed and dangerous and not to approach her if seen._

_If anybody has any information that could assist the FBI in her recapture, they are to phone the hotline number…_

Alison tuned out the rest of the report as her eyes were now drawn to the screen showing images of the escaped fugitive.

Sarah Connor.

Why was that name so familiar? Why was she so drawn to an escaped criminal in a random news report?

"Do you know her?"

Alison jerked back in startled bemusement at the words, her head whipping round to catch a blonde girl standing suddenly beside her.

"The woman in the news report, do you know her?" The blonde girl jerked her chin at the TV as she studied Alison curiously.

"I, uh, no, I don't." Finally stuttering out an answer Alison turned to walk away even as her denial niggled uncomfortably at the back of her head.

"Oh, I thought you did. You were staring at her hard enough. Was kinda intense actually that's why I asked. I have an uncle in the slammer that..."

Alison stifled an annoyed sigh as the blonde girl trailed after her.

"Look, can I help you with something?" Interrupting suddenly Alison turned to face the blonde girl again, wondering why she was still following after her. Studying the now startled girl standing still in front of her Alison could see the wariness creeping into her eyes at her abrupt questioning.

The girl looked to be about sixteen, seventeen at the most with straggly blonde hair that hung just below her shoulder blades. Dressed in black jeans and a large sweater that had seen better days and carrying a battered back pack, Alison could tell by the smudges under her eyes and the tenseness in her frame that she was trying to hide, that the girl had probably also seen better days.

"I, uh, just thought that, you know, that maybe we could hang out, or something." Giving Alison a nonchalant shrug, the girl made to turn away at Alison's contained annoyance at her.

Seeing the stoop of the girl's shoulders and sensing the feigned nonchalance as she started to walk away, Alison sighed and spoke before thinking as she felt the guilt gnawing into her conscience. The girl was probably just as scared and frightened as she was and only wanted some friendly company.

"Wait, what's your name?"

Turning back round the girl gave Alison a brief uncertain smile before stepping closer.

"I'm Riley, what's yours?"

"Alison. Come on Riley, let's go…hang out." Turning back towards the rooms at the other end of the open area, Alison waited until Riley was following before she led the way.

"That's a cool name, I wanted to be called Star Sunshine once, thought it sounded neat…"

Alison tuned the girl out as she continued to ramble on behind her, wondering if she had made the right choice after all. Feeling sorry for someone didn't mean that she needed the unnecessary complication of another human being in her life at the moment. She still had no idea who she was and now she had the added headache of trying to figure out who this Sarah Connor was and why the woman stirred something inside her.

She had a feeling that Sarah Connor was important to her somehow, she just didn't know how.

* * *

Inserting the key into his apartment door, Agent Ellison turned the knob and stepped inside. Pushing the door closed behind him with a booted heel he suddenly froze as he felt the press of a muzzle against his lower back.

"You were right Agent Ellison, this wasn't over." Pushing the gun firmer into the Agent's back, Sarah reached under Agent Ellison's raised left arm and pulled out his gun from its holster, tucking it quickly into the front of her jeans. "Where is she?"

Turning slowly on his heels so as not to alarm Sarah, Agent Ellison raised an eyebrow in silent query at the gun now aimed at his stomach.

"Where is she Agent?" Sarah's features turned hard at the Agent's raised eyebrow, his calm demeanour already pissing off her patience.

"Where's who?"

"You know who I'm talking about Agent! Don't play games with me." Sarah could feel the anxiety coursing through her veins, her patience close to snapping as the intense desire to see Cameron was making her more nervous and on edge than usual. Gripping the gun tighter in her grip, Sarah stalked closer placing the gun against Agent Ellison's forehead as she flicked the safety at the same time.

**"Where. The****. Fuck. Is. Cameron**?" Biting the word's through clenched teeth Sarah just barely managed to restrain herself from firing as she bored cold eyes into the brown orbs in front of her, a brown that weren't the ones she wanted to desperately see.

"Is she the girl who helped you to escape? I don't know Sarah. I'm telling you the truth. I have no idea where Cameron is." Holding his breath in anticipation, Agent Ellison wondered if she would believe him. This woman that was standing in front of him was not the same woman that he had had before him in the lock up room three weeks prior. This Sarah Connor was standing on a razor's edge, a barely restrained anger and desperation permeating her every action, a live wire that would ignite at the slightest provocation.

Sarah continued to stare into eyes that held no hostility just a quiet inner strength and calm that made her want to believe him even though she knew she shouldn't because Agent Ellison was her last ditch attempt at finding Cameron. She had been one hundred per cent certain that the Agent had her locked up somewhere, disabled and powerless, unable to leave so Cameron could come home…come back to her.

"You're lying."

"Why would I lie? You have a gun against my forehead, that's more than enough incentive to tell the truth." Inhaling sharply, Agent Ellison tried again. "I don't have her Sarah."

Sarah absorbed the words, the blood roaring in her ears as she weighed the Agent's sincerity. She could feel the tension in her body, the strained silence of the room broken only by her harsh breathing as she continued to gauge the calm man in front of her intently. Finally, after a heart beat Sarah flicked the safety back on and removed the gun from the Agent's forehead. Moving back slightly, gun still grasped firmly in front of her, Sarah could feel herself stepping back from the edge as she struggled to reign in her overwhelming emotions.

"Why should I believe you?"

Letting out a relieved exhale at the gun now removed from his forehead, Agent Ellison relaxed marginally. "Because I spent most of that night with the diving team scouring every inch of that lake and came up with nothing. But then I think you already know that don't you?"

Lowering his hands, Agent Ellison turned a curious look towards Sarah, tinged with a perplexity he couldn't hide. "Who is Cameron Sarah?"

"She's someone who you don't need to concern yourself with Agent." Gripping the butt of her gun harder, Sarah forced herself to relax. She needed a clear head if she was going to help Cameron and get her back.

Taking off his jacket and loosening his tie, Agent Ellison sat down on the couch behind him as he observed Sarah's knuckled grip on her gun at his query.

"If you want me to help you Sarah, you have to tell me who she is."

"Would you even believe me if I told you Agent? We've had this conversation before if I recall." Eyeing the sitting man suspiciously at his calm composure, Sarah remained where she was standing tapping her gun lightly against her thigh.

Eyeing Sarah's blatant reminder that she still had the gun in her hand, Agent Ellison crossed his legs and lightly gripped his hands together on his knees as he caught the suspicious look on her features.

"I'm willing to believe now."

"Why?"

"Because I experienced Cameron."

Sarah gave the Agent a small smirk at his words but remained silent; Cameron was an experience all right.

"There was no way a girl of her stature should have been able to pick me up so easily and toss me to the side, but she did." Giving another relieved sigh at seeing the smirk on Sarah's face at his words, Agent Ellison relaxed even more, the high tension of earlier already evaporating from the small room.

Feeling that Sarah had stepped back from the precipice she was standing on earlier, Agent Ellison rose cautiously to his feet and made his way to the kitchen. "Now, since we've already got the pleasantries out of the way, would you like something to drink? I know I could use one."

Sarah schooled her face into a rueful grimace as the Agent disappeared into the kitchen, his obvious wariness of earlier already disappearing at her relaxed guard. Cursing internally to herself and wondering if it was the brightest move she could make to trust an FBI agent, one that had been chasing her for years even, Sarah tucked her gun back into the back of her jeans.

Looking down hesitantly at the Agent's gun still tucked into the front of her jeans, Sarah decided to leave it where it was. Agent Ellison might be telling her the truth but she wasn't stupid, trust didn't come easily to her, especially not for someone who could still lock her up and throw away the key.

"Okay Agent, let's say I believe you're telling me the truth and we have us a little truce…for now. Why would you want to help me?"

Entering the living room again Agent Ellison stood still studying the woman in front of him intently. Although her words were calm and light, he could still catch the slight tension in Sarah's frame, her hands clutching into fists at her sides. He didn't blame her natural mistrust at his sudden desire to offer her his help. Hell he would've been more surprised if she _**wasn**__**'**__**t **_suspicious. Knowing her history, Sarah Connor was not a woman who would trust easily.

"Why do you think security was so lax when you were being transferred Sarah?" The Agent gave her a measured look before continuing softly, "I wanted you to escape."

Sarah inhaled sharply at the soft words, her eyes narrowing again in suspicion but remained silent as the Agent continued.

"You're a wanted fugitive that we've been chasing for over ten years, do you really think that the FBI wouldn't want to take extra security precautions when you're being transferred?"

"Then why didn't you?"

Ignoring the question Agent Ellison continued softly, "Did you know I spoke to Sarah Connor, the woman who you saved after your escape? She…confirmed my growing suspicions." Taking a deep breath the Agent continued to study Sarah, trying to gauge her reactions to his words, "The machines, it's all true isn't it Sarah? And Cameron is one of them."

Sarah's lips tightened at his words as she returned his stare with a calculated one of her own, "As I said Agent, Cameron is not your concern."

"You have to give me something here Sarah. I'm putting my career on the line by helping a wanted fugitive."

Sarah moved over to the couch her eyes never leaving Agent Ellison as she perched casually on the arm.

"You already believe me Agent, what Cameron is doesn't matter. All you need to know right now is that if I can't stop Skynet, Judgement Day will happen," Turning away briefly as her words faltered, Sarah took a deep breath and turned steely eyes back onto the Agent in front of her, "and for me to stop Skynet, I need Cameron."

The Agent eyed Sarah speculatively taking note of the flash of pain as she spoke Cameron's name before her features were quickly masked again. Knowing that there was more to Sarah's words than wanting a machine by her side, Agent Ellison sighed minutely and relaxed his posture. If he wanted more answers, Sarah would have to learn to fully trust him first.

"Let's start from the beginning then shall we Sarah? If we're going to be friends, let's start with you calling me James."

Sarah eyed the Agent critically as she absorbed his words in the now quiet room, studying him just as intently as he was studying her, gauging the Agent's sincerity again against what she knew of him. Finally, after a heavy silence filled with the wary beginnings of a slowly awakening truce, Sarah relaxed marginally.

"Friends would be a big leap to make…but maybe if things work out, I won't have to end up killing you." Giving the Agent a small smirk Sarah pushed away her feelings of doubt and reached into the front of her jeans for the Agent's gun. Offering it to him butt first, Sarah exhaled a relieved breath as he took the proffered gun and holstered it into his side holster without a word.

Turning away from the man in front of her and walking to the front door Sarah opened it and turned back to give the Agent a raised eyebrow, "I'll be in touch _James_."

With her parting words Sarah shut the door behind her hoping that she was doing the right thing. It wasn't only her who would get burned this time if the Agent ended up betraying her.

* * *

"Where've you been?"

Sarah's features tightened imperceptibly at the challenging tone as she stepped into the kitchen taking in Derek's scowl as he sat at the table waiting for her.

"Like I told you earlier, I had to go out. Where's John?" Making her way to the fridge, Sarah pulled out a bottle of water and leant casually against the now closed fridge door as she opened the bottle to take a drink.

"He's upstairs in his room. Where was out?"

Sarah sighed and walked towards the table to sit down opposite Derek as he clasped his hands on the table in front of him. She knew he was annoyed that she hadn't told him where she was going and although she was really trying to include Derek in her decision making, it was still a hard habit to break after all her years of bearing her responsibilities on her own.

"I paid Agent Ellison a visit."

"You what? Are you crazy Sarah?" Shaking his head incredulously at her Derek wondered if she had finally cracked under the strain of her worries for Cameron.

"I needed answers and I thought that he would have some."

"And did he?"

Placing her head in her hands Sarah closed her eyes briefly feeling the overwhelming emotion of missing Cameron's presence hitting her again.

"No."

Eyeing Sarah critically Derek could feel his annoyance at her vanishing. She was still hurting even though she was trying not to show it.

"What about you and John, did you guys have any luck?" Looking up into now concerned eyes staring back at her critically, Sarah masked her features, willing the ache inside her chest away. She had had enough of the pitying looks bestowed her way when Derek thought she wasn't looking. She didn't need his pity, she just needed Cameron.

"No one matched her description at any of the shelters we visited today. But if there's a possibility that she really does think she's human for some reason, I don't think it's a given that she hasn't been to one of them. Places like those, with the kind of people that seek shelter there; I wouldn't expect anyone to be particularly forthcoming with that kind of information."

Sarah stood up suddenly from the table and went to stand in front of the kitchen window looking out towards the small shed sitting in the corner of the back yard. Concentrating on her breathing to clear her head, Sarah gripped the bench in a tight grip as she willed the panic away.

She was at a dead end.

It was as if Cameron had disappeared off the face of the earth. She was so sure that the Agent had somehow captured the girl but unless he was the most exceptional actor ever, Sarah believed him when he had said that he didn't have her.

But now what?

If Agent Ellison didn't have her, where the hell was she? Was she lying somewhere broken and damaged? And if so, where?

Cameron wasn't indestructible. Yes, she could stop bullets and lift a car with her bare hands but that aside, she wasn't invincible. She could still be damaged. If anything happened to her chip…

Sarah pushed away the debilitating thought as soon as it entered. She couldn't think of what ifs, not if she wanted to keep on functioning.

Wherever Cameron was, she would get her back. She had to. She would not accept any other outcome that did not involve Cameron standing beside her once again.

"I'll be out in the shed if anyone needs me."

Turning away from the window and avoiding Derek's gaze Sarah composed her features and stalked to her room to change. She needed to be doing something with herself, even if it was to only beat the shit out of a punching bag for a while. Physical exertion was the only hope she had in keeping her panicking thoughts at bay.

TBC...


	10. Chapter 10

_**Authors Note: **__From this point forward I would like to thank and dedicate Against All Odds to spyffy. She's been inspirational in helping this story in being continued._

* * *

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**Part Ten**

"Why are we here again?"

Alison sighed and glanced over to her left at Riley, who was sitting down on a low brick wall with her feet swinging lazily to and fro with a bored expression on her face.

"I don't know but I feel like I know this place somehow, it feels…familiar."

"But you don't remember it?"

Sighing again in frustration this time, Alison stepped back from the curb and hopped onto the wall next to Riley suddenly falling backwards in surprise as she felt the wall give way under her. Landing on her back onto the soft grass behind her with a whoosh Alison could only stare up at Riley with an incredulous expression as the girl looked down on her with hilarity.

"Oh my God, are you ok?" Stifling her giggling at seeing Alison's bewildered expression staring back up at her Riley jumped off the wall and stretched out a hand towards Alison who was now struggling to her feet.

"What the hell?" Staring at the now partially crumbled wall, Alison dusted her behind and gingerly stepped up onto the wall, jumping down from the short drop gracefully. "How the hell did that happen?"

"It was probably close to falling down anyway and your fat arse broke it." Still laughing hysterically, Riley stepped out of the way as Alison made to slap her on the arm.

Since the night Riley had foisted herself on her over a week ago, Alison had found the girl to be pleasant and amusing company. Her unusual behaviour and sense of humour making her laugh more than she had in the last few weeks combined finding Riley to be a good distraction to the constant niggling at the back of her mind. Although initially reluctant to confide her troubles to the girl, Alison had found that Riley was fast becoming a good friend, someone that she could count on and not feel so lonely in her isolation.

Although still knowing little about the girl's background, Alison had been hesitant in pushing Riley into revealing information that she obviously did not want to share. Not being able to offer any information in regards to her own background except to confide about the memory loss she was suffering from, Alison had left the sensitive conversation alone for now. Besides, going by the scars she had caught on the girl's arms and the faded bruises on her body, it wasn't hard for Alison to figure out parts of her story. Riley definitely had her own troubles and Alison was hoping that she would share when she felt comfortable to do so.

Mumbling under her breath, Alison rolled her eyes at the still laughing girl as she side stepped the intended slap easily. Giving the wall one final confused stare, Alison turned her attention back to the house they had been camped out in front of for over an hour now. Things had been doing that a lot to her lately, breaking without any apparent reason. At first she had put it down to the objects being close to falling apart, but now after a week or so of it happening and especially with her recent altercation with the three gang member's that had tried to rape her she was getting concerned.

And it wasn't only her strength that was concerning her, she was finding other little things as well that was causing her alarm. Her senses seemed to be more sensitive than other people around her. She had not really noticed that she was able to hear and see things better than the average person until Riley had shown up; initially accepting that it was normal. Now however, since having been in Riley's company for over a week, she was beginning to notice that she could see further than Riley could and hear things that the girl found difficult to pick up, plus the fact that she required very little sleep or food was another glaringly obvious warning sign that she was different.

Alison had tested her new found suspicions by foregoing food, water or sleep for the past few weeks, only starting to eat and sleep again when Riley started following her around. Not wanting to raise any suspicions about who or what she was, Alison had hidden her super enhanced abilities from the other girl, making sure she remembered to eat and sleep when required.

And now the only conclusion that she could reach with everything that was happening to her and the overwhelming evidence that was being presented was that she was possibly an escaped government experiment. An experiment that was designed to create the perfect super human and even though that sounded farfetched, even to her own ears, Alison could not think of anything else that would explain her enhanced senses and her aversion to the authorities. Farfetched or not, it could be possible. Who really knew what the government got up to without the public being aware of what was going on?

Furrowing her brow in consternation at her thoughts, Alison turned away from the house and glanced over towards Riley, who was now throwing stones into the gutter for entertainment.

Catching Alison's eyes on her, Riley looked up and threw her an expression filled with boredom.

"Are we done now?"

"Yeah, we're done."

Turning back to the house one last time with an inscrutable look on her face, Alison waited for Riley to scramble to her feet before walking down the footpath and away from the house that still niggled irritatingly at her thoughts.

"You know, maybe if I asked you random questions as to why you think that house was familiar we might possibly trigger something in your memories about it?"

Throwing her friend a curious look at her suggestion Riley was happy to see if she could help. Having now come to regard Alison as a friend and a very good one at that in the short time that she had known her, Riley was happy to concentrate on Alison's memory loss rather than her own problems.

Riley had known that befriending the girl was a big risk but she had been so lonely and so scared since she had arrived in the city that she had wanted to reach out, to make contact with another person so desperately that she had thrown her usual wariness over strangers out the window. Seeing Alison standing there in front of the TV looking so lost and staring so resolutely at the screen in front of her, Riley had been drawn to her, not giving any consideration to what it would mean if she was discovered. The possible lure of speaking to another human being had filled her with an intense longing that she had found hard to hide so she had approached the still standing girl before she had even realised what she was doing. The city was a cold and formidable place for someone that was used to everyone knowing everyone as soon as she stepped outside her front door.

"So, let's see. Did you know any of the people that were coming and going out of that house?"

"No. I don't know any of those people that live there, well not that I know of anyway. No one looked particularly familiar."

After having spent an entire week now observing the comings and goings of the red brick and mortar house, Alison had become acclimatised to the family of four that were living there, a mother and father and two children, both girls under the age of five. And although she had studied them intently each time they came out of the house, their features did nothing to cause the familiar tingles she got when she knew she was looking at something she should know.

Out and about on her daily wanderings, she had stumbled across the house by pure chance, a sixth sense driving her rambling walks around the city. Caught up in an intense desire to come visit a street she had no knowledge of, Alison had allowed it to lead her where it would and had stopped abruptly in front of the house that was now ringing all sorts of bells in her head.

"Hmmm and we didn't get very far with that Sarah Connor lady did we? Funny how an escaped convict is unreachable by phone."

Ignoring the slight sarcastic tinge to the words, Alison continued to study her surroundings as she walked methodically down the footpath. Taking note of the passing cars and the lateness to the day, Alison allowed her thoughts to wander to the mysterious woman she had seen on the news.

She hadn't expected to be able to find the escaped convict where the FBI and police had failed, but the information she was able to dig up about Sarah Connor in old news archives and the internet had been particularly enlightening. A supposedly psychotic and deranged mad woman who had gone around blowing up buildings and killing people and although that should have been enough to scare her away from trying to find the woman, it hadn't. There was definitely something about Sarah Connor that kept on pulling at her awareness, a resilient nagging feeling that just refused to go away no matter what she did.

Touching the diamond under her shirt out of a reassuring habit, Alison knew that no matter how dangerous this woman was reported to be, she **had** to track her down somehow. She didn't know how she knew but deep down inside she knew without a doubt that if she could just find Sarah Connor, the woman would have the answers she needed.

* * *

"Hey Mom, come here a minute, I think I've found something!" Tapping furiously on his laptop keyboard John brought up more images onto the screen.

"What is it?" Entering the kitchen as fast as she could from where she had been sitting on the porch steps trying to figure out their next plan of action Sarah's face was set into a nervous frown. Hearing Derek enter the kitchen behind her Sarah ignored him and sidled up behind John, peering intently at the screen in front of her.

"I thought I'd see if I could hack into the various traffic camera's around the city, try and see if maybe Cameron was picked up on anything."

Moving out of the way of the screen, John tilted it up slightly so Sarah and Derek could see the grainy images that were now being displayed.

"I've found her, found Cameron." John's voice was bathed in excitement as his gaze roamed between Sarah's and Derek's faces, waiting for their reaction.

Sarah tensed in sudden excited anticipation at hearing John's words, her face frowning in concentration at the images of Cameron on the screen. There were numerous shots of the girl, waiting at crossing lights, walking past random city shops and some were even showing her in the company of a scraggly looking blonde girl.

Sarah's gaze remained riveted on the images, feeling her emotions swelling at the pictures of Cameron in front of her. Bending down as close as she could to the screen Sarah studied Cameron intently as a trembling hand reached out unconsciously towards the images to lightly trace Cameron's form. Feeling tears pooling in her eyes at the welcome sight in front of her even through the grainy quality of the photos Sarah could feel overwhelming relief invade her entire body.

Cameron was ok.

She was walking and talking and by the looks of one photo was even smiling down indulgently at her blonde companion walking beside her. Feeling a flare of irrational jealousy stab through her body at the last image, Sarah squashed it hastily. She had been all sorts of worried verging on a meltdown and here Cameron was blithely wandering the city streets with another person as if she hadn't a care in the world.

Clearing her throat and stepping away from the images in front of her reluctantly, Sarah closed her eyes briefly and surreptitiously wiped at the lone tear that had managed to slip down her cheek unnoticed. Opening her eyes again and glancing over towards John and Derek who had pointedly kept their gaze on the laptop to give her some time to compose herself, Sarah ran a still trembling hand through her hair.

"Find out where the latest images were taken, what street location. I'm going to go change."

Giving the boys one last glance, Sarah turned and walked out of the room, feeling the heavy weight lifting from her heart and soul with each step she took. They now knew where Cameron was or her last known whereabouts anyway. It was only a matter of time before she was with the girl again.

* * *

Walking down the bustling city streets, Alison couldn't help but notice Riley's wary looks over her shoulders now and again. She had started to notice the girl's strange and tense behaviour the more she was spending in her company. As soon as night started to fall Riley's jumpiness that was carefully concealed in the light of day became more noticeable, making the girl withdrawn and distant.

Still unwilling to bring up a subject that Alison knew was touchy, she couldn't help but feel unhappy about how the girl was acting. Wanting to help her new found friend in any way she could, Alison bit her lip indecisively as she debated the pros and cons.

Sighing in frustration and making a swift decision Alison forcibly relaxed her tone to make her words come out as casual as possible, pointedly keeping her eyes averted as she spoke, "So, are you going to tell me what's going on with you?"

Sensing Riley tense even more beside her at the words as they turned down a deserted side street towards the nearest shelter for the night, Alison glanced towards her briefly and then looked away again.

"There's nothing going on. I just had a crappy home life and now I'm on the streets." Riley swallowed in apprehension as she tried to hide her uneasiness at the direct question, glancing at Alison then away as she caught the girl's concerned expression.

Stifling her sigh at Riley's attempt at a casual reply, Alison grabbed her by the hand to halt their movements knowing that it was time to get the real story so she could help her.

"Come on Riley, I'm not stupid. I know there's more to it than that. I've told you my story, or what I can anyway, it's time you let me in and tell me yours." Glancing into blue eyes now looking back fearfully at her, Alison lowered her voice and placed a soothing hand onto Riley's shoulder, "Its ok. I just want to help. Tell me why you're so jumpy all the time and why you keep looking over your shoulder. Who's after you?"

Closing her eyes briefly Riley wriggled away from the hand on her wrist and shoulder and walked over to lean against a closed shop door, hands folded defensively over her chest.

"No one is after me Alison. God, just leave it already ok?" Riley's tone was belligerent as she tried to hide the fear in her voice continuing to avoid the concerned brown eyes in front of her.

"Come on Riley, I can't help if you won't tell me what's going on. It has to do with the scars on your wrists doesn't it? And the bruises on your body?

Walking closer to the now trembling girl, Alison softened her voice and gaze even more as she stretched out her hands and placed them onto the girl's shaking shoulders, her heart breaking at the pain and fear she could see on Riley's face.

Resisting Alison's hold on her shoulders Riley tried to pull away, tried to hide her face from the pity she was sure would be evident in the brown eyes in front of her. But Alison held on firmer wanting to soothe away her friend's troubles. Wrapping her arms around Riley's waist into a tight hug, Alison pulled her closer feeling the girl trembling slightly in her arms.

"It's ok Riley, whatever it is I want to help. Let me help."

Pushing away her own troubled thoughts, Alison's desire at the moment was only to help her troubled friend in any way she could. Rubbing the girl's back in soothing patterns, Alison could feel Riley begin to settle, the trembling in her body becoming less and less as she burrowed deeper into the hug.

Pulling away slightly and looking down into watery blue eyes, Alison gave her a concerned smile, never having seen the girl's tears in front of her before. Riley returned the smile with a tremulous one of her own, her gaze almost shy and bashful as she stepped out of Alison's warm arms and grabbed her by the hands.

"Come on, if you want to know we might as well sit down. It's not pretty."

Tugging on Alison lightly, she sat down on the shop door stoop waiting patiently as Alison settled in comfortably beside her. Taking a deep breath and gripping firmly onto Alison's hand for support, Riley began her story.

* * *

They had been driving for the better part of an hour now and there was still no sign of Cameron anywhere. Glancing over at John with a concerned frown, Sarah couldn't stop the tension from rising in her body at each minute that passed without spotting Cameron.

Reaching into her jacket pocket Sarah pulled out her cell phone and dialled Derek's number, quickly entering the code as he picked up and then waited impatiently for him to return his four digit code before speaking.

"Any sign of her yet?"

Deciding it was best that they split up so they could cover all the places that Cameron had been spotted at Sarah could feel the hopelessness welling up inside her again. Having let John drive so she could concentrate on the city streets Sarah turned her head out the window keeping her eyes peeled in earnest at the walking pedestrians, hoping that if she concentrated hard enough Cameron would miraculously appear before her.

Biting her lip in consternation at the denial from Derek, Sarah bade him a goodbye and hung up the phone, her head leaning despondently against the side window. Gripping tightly onto the cell phone in her hands Sarah turned her gaze back onto the streets.

"We'll find her Mom." John's voice pierced through her fog induced worries, making Sarah sit up stiffly in her seat.

Not wanting to agree with a statement that she wasn't even sure would come true, Sarah turned her attention back onto the streets, her eyes roaming across everything they fell on with a determined heat that could melt through solid steel.

* * *

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that Riley and I'm glad that you trust me enough to tell me." Increasing the pressure of their joined hands, Alison stretched out her right hand to tilt Riley's head towards her. Catching the girl's eyes Alison gave her a warm smile, one filled with understanding and sympathy.

They were still sitting on the shop stoop, Riley's story having taken the better part of the evening as the girl stumbled and forced her way through the difficult re-telling of how she had ended up on the streets. And Alison's heart went out to her. Riley's strength and determination to escape a past that had not been particularly kind to her had made her own troubles pale in comparison. What was a little memory loss compared to what Riley had gone through?

Physically and mentally abused by an uncaring and drunken father, viciously tormented and ignored by a mother that had blamed her for her lost youth, Riley had suffered silently in the hands of the two most important people in her life that were supposed to love and protect her. Enduring her abuse in the small town community that she had grown up in in silence, Riley had had no one to turn to, no one to confide in except for one lone friend her own age that no one would believe anyway. Her parents to the outside world were the perfect parents and the perfect couple; they could do no wrong in the eyes of the small community.

Riley's parents had been high school sweet hearts, Jake and Elizabeth Montgomery. Her mother had fallen pregnant at the age of sixteen and had been forced to keep the baby by her devout catholic parents. Pushed into a wedding that neither of the teenagers were ready for and especially for a child that both had never really wanted, their love for each other had turned bitter and twisted, blaming all their issues and shattered dreams on the baby that was now their responsibility.

Pulling the girl that had somehow entered her heart in the short time that she had known her into another warm hug, Alison could feel Riley shivering slightly; whether from the on-coming chill of the night or her horrifying memories Alison couldn't be sure.

"Come on; let's see if we can still make that shelter before they shut for the night." Pulling gently on her arm, Alison helped Riley to her feet.

"Hey baby, did you miss Daddy?"

Feeling Riley stiffen in alarm at the voice, Alison whipped her head around to face the sauntering man walking slowly towards them. Giving the man a warning glare, Alison felt Riley huddling in closer to her side as she started to tremble violently.

"Who are you?" Placing a protective arm around the girl's shoulder, Alison pushed her gently behind her as she stood in front of the door, hiding Riley into the alcove.

"Someone who's come to claim his lost property."

Watching the now sneering man intently, Alison knew with a slight shudder that this was the man that Riley had run away from. The similarities in the man in front of her to the girl cowering behind her back were enough for Alison to know that he was her father.

"Come on Riley baby, don't make daddy mad now you hear. Just come with me and we'll talk about this when we get home."

Tightening her features into a scowl, Alison held onto Riley's arm harder as the girl behind her shivered in fear.

"She's not going anywhere with you. How did you even find her anyway?"

Riley's father came to a menacing halt in front of Alison, his tall bulky frame hidden underneath a white shirt and black slacks, his eyes narrowing into a disgruntled frown at Alison's challenging tone.

"Who the fuck are you to tell me what I can and can't do with my bitch daughter?"

Turning his now cold gaze onto Riley still cowering behind Alison, Riley's father clenched his hands in sudden anger.

"You know what kind of trouble you've put me through you bitch? Taking time off work to find you, making everyone think we're bad parents. If you didn't want to be found you shouldn't have told that cunt friend of yours where you've been hiding. Now get your fucking ass over here before I beat you down for disobeying me."

Moving closer towards them as he spoke his vile words, Alison could feel the anger coursing through her body at the offensive man standing in front of her.

"Don't come any closer, Riley's not going anywhere with you."

Trembling slightly herself in fear, Alison swallowed her apprehension at the twisted face staring back at them with hatred.

"Or what? Stay out of it bitch or you'll get yours. Riley, you stupid slut, get the fuck over here, **now!**"

Riley swallowed reflexively in fear, watching her father's face turn red as she gripped tightly onto Alison's arm, her body trembling at the horrifying spectre in front of her. This is what she had feared since having run away from home. She knew that her parents would not just let her go, their precious reputation more important to them than her. As long as she stayed at home and pretended everything was ok, they could keep up their façade of normality.

"Da…daddy, please, please don't hurt her, don't hurt Alison. I'll come back, I'm sorry for leaving; just, just don't hurt her ok?" Knowing that she had no choice if she wanted to keep Alison safe Riley gripped Alison's arm once more and then let go, moving out from behind the girl who was trying to protect her valiantly.

"Riley! No!" Turning to stare at the girl with horrified eyes, Alison grabbed her by the arm to stop her progress.

"Alison, please. Let me go. He won't, he won't just give up. I **have** to go back."

"Get the fuck away from her, she's mine you hear me? Maybe, if you're extra nice like my little slut here we could have some fun together as well."

Feeling her stomach turn violently at the implications behind the words, Alison felt like vomiting as an overwhelming rage swept through her body at Riley's treatment in the hands of this monster. She had never mentioned this part of her abuse.

"Come on baby, come home to daddy, you know you want to."

Shuddering at the false sugary sweet cajoling tone to his voice, Alison held on to Riley tighter, refusing to let her return to the vile beast standing in front of them.

Stepping closer Jake shoved Alison aside abruptly making her stumble and fall onto the concrete pavement. Ignoring the now lying girl spread eagled on the side walk; Riley's father clamped his hands onto the girl's arm and yanked her towards him with a vicious tug. Leering at Riley in triumph, Jake turned to walk away as he dragged a now crying Riley behind him.

"Stop your fucking whining you stupid bitch and get into the fucking car. I'll deal with you properly when we get home."

Hearing the words Alison could feel her rage induced adrenaline coursing through her body giving her the needed courage to chase after Riley.

Clamping down onto the man's shoulder as he shoved Riley into the truck parked on the curb, Alison gave a yank and Jake came crashing back into her with an unexpected force. Surprised by the heavyset man's weight falling against her front, Alison stumbled again and came crashing down once more, the back of her head snapping back in reaction to strike lightly against the concrete pavement.

"Alison!" Screaming in panic at seeing her friend go down, Riley quickly scrambled out of the car.

Feeling her vision swimming and little dots of lights beginning to appear in front of her eyes, Alison groaned softly as Riley's panicked voice filtered through the haze swirling in her head. Shaking her head minutely to clear the sudden confusion, Alison could feel hands holding her down by the throat and a heavy weight straddling her body.

"Couldn't just walk away could you bitch?"

"Daddy no! Let her go!" Not caring anymore about her own safety Riley jumped onto her father's back as he sat crouched over Alison's struggling form. Wrapping her hands around his throat in an effort to pull him off Alison, Riley twisted and pulled as hard as she could to get his grip free.

Giving a grunt and faltering slightly at the unexpected weight and the arms around his throat, Jake lifted his right arm and swung back vigorously in an attempt to dislodge her. Hearing Riley's pained moan as she came loose and landed on the pavement behind him, Riley's father directed his attention back to Alison.

Panicking as her vision started to slowly fade feeling the fingers increasing their pressure around her throat and smelling the foul stench of alcohol on his breath, Alison continued to struggle weakly through the grogginess surrounding her head, her body and legs bucking and kicking to release the hands and the body pinning her down onto the cold concrete under her.

"Let her go."

Riley's father froze at the softly spoken words, his body stiffening in reaction to the feel of cold steel pressed firmly against the back of his head.

Alison stopped struggling at the same time as she felt the released pressure from around her throat and gazed up into stormy green eyes looking down at her intently. She felt her breath catch in her throat and her world shifting and sliding as an overwhelming sense of relief and warmth invaded her body.

She knew those eyes, had been haunted by them in her dreams since she had awakened disoriented and lost so many weeks ago. Those eyes were her shelter in the maelstrom of her foggy and broken mind and she knew with a bone deep certainty that everything was now going to be ok.

Sarah Connor would save her.

TBC...


	11. Chapter 11

**Part Eleven**

Sarah could feel the blood pulsing in her ears, the adrenaline and fear coursing through her body for Cameron as she took in the sight of her being pinned to the ground by an unknown man. Ignoring the whimpering blonde girl standing to the side and John standing uncertainly behind her, Sarah could feel her fingers tightening on the gun as everything around her froze and her focus swivelled down onto the familiar brown orbs staring up at her with profound relief.

Not knowing who the man was that was holding her to the ground or really caring except for the fact that he was trying to hurt Cameron, Sarah broke her gaze from Cameron reluctantly and pressed the muzzle of the gun harder into Jake's head.

"_**Let. Her. Go**_**."** Repeating her words with a hard emphasis on each word, Sarah stepped back as the man released his grip from around Cameron's throat and struggled to his feet.

Watching him turn around slowly to face her, hands above his head, Sarah could feel her hackles rising at the snarling grimace on his features.

"Look, this is none of your business. I just want my daughter."

Glancing towards Cameron who was now clambering to her feet and the blonde girl still standing in frozen horror to the side, Sarah's face hardened. Turning her gaze back to the man standing before her, her eyes turning cold at the thought of his hands around Cameron's throat and his body pinning her down, Sarah felt her fingers curling around the trigger on the gun reflexively.

"It doesn't look like she wants to go with you does it?" Drawling softly in reply and masking her features Sarah struggled against her desire to flick the safety off and pull the trigger. Cocking her head towards John Sarah softly commanded, "John, take Cameron and the girl to the truck."

Moving forward slightly in protest at Sarah's words, Jake halted again as Sarah aimed the gun at his chest, taking the safety off at the same time.

"I don't think so." Not taking her eyes off the man in front of her, Sarah could see Cameron and the blonde girl moving towards John out of her peripheral vision. Backing up slowly her eyes still locked onto a now furious Jake, Sarah followed after the retreating group.

"Whoever you are, this isn't over. Riley belongs with me." Throwing Sarah a snarling growl, Riley's father directed his gaze behind her shoulder, "You hear me Riley? I'll find you wherever you go!"

Sarah's eyes narrowed at the threat but remained silent. She didn't have time to worry about him at the moment, she had more important concerns. Hearing the screeching of wheels behind her, Sarah gave Jake a warning glare as she backed slowly towards the truck, her eyes never leaving the livid man in front of her. Clicking the safety back into place, Sarah tucked the gun back into her jeans and opening the front passenger door clambered inside. Taking a deep calming breath Sarah turned her eyes towards Cameron who was sitting behind John as the truck took off, catching the girl's eyes in a reassuring smile.

Whoever these people were that Cameron had gotten herself involved with Sarah didn't care, for now all she wanted was to get Cameron home.

* * *

Entering the familiar comfort of the house Sarah peered over her shoulders as Alison, Riley then John trailed after her silently. Knowing that Derek wasn't going to be back for a while after she had contacted him to let him know that Cameron had been found, stating cryptically that he was going to check out a lead before hanging up, Sarah sighed in relief. She didn't need the uptight ex-soldier making things even more strained than they already were. Making her way into the kitchen Sarah set the coffee to percolate in the absence of something stronger, knowing that she was going to need the caffeine to kick start her weary bones.

The drive home had been relatively quiet interspersed with Riley's halting commentary on what had led to the events of earlier and Alison confirming her suspicions that she had no memory of who they were. Feeling a rise of sympathy for the still upset girl, Sarah had fought against a sudden wave of jealousy as she caught Cameron's arms wrapped firmly around the girl's shoulders, holding her closely against her side in the travelling vehicle.

Glancing towards Alison who was sitting stiffly in a chair at the kitchen table with her back against the wall and Riley sitting uncomfortably close to her, Sarah willed away another wave of jealousy, knowing her hostility towards the blonde girl was uncalled for. Turning away from the sitting pair who was looking around them in bemusement, Sarah cocked her head towards John who was leaning against the counter opposite her, his gaze riveted on Alison.

Sarah could feel her head and heart throb painfully as she caught Alison's curious gaze upon her, the girl's eyes holding no hint of recognition as she took in the purpling bruises marring the skin around her throat. Stifling her overwhelming desire to just walk over and sit on Alison's lap regardless, needing to feel the girl's strong arms holding her tightly, Sarah masked her features into a neutral mask.

"So…" clearing a throat suddenly croaky with the intense longing to have Cameron look back at her with the love she was used to seeing in the girl's eyes, Sarah clenched her hands tightly and folded her arms against her chest, "you don't remember who we are, or anything about your life prior to waking up at the lake?"

"No."

Feeling Riley's hand clutching at her left hand on the kitchen table, Alison turned to give the blonde girl a brief reassuring smile before turning her gaze back onto Sarah. Alison was surprised that she wasn't scared of the woman standing rigidly in front of her, knew that with all the information she had managed to read up on about the escaped convict that she should definitely be afraid of her. But for some reason she wasn't. The woman that was standing before her didn't appear to be the same woman portrayed in the news reports she had managed to uncover.

She had been shocked of course and relieved when Sarah had turned up out of the blue, a guardian angel wrought as if from the dredges of her panicked and fearful mind but she hadn't been afraid of her. For some unexplainable reason Sarah Connor evoked from her a feeling of safety and love and it was this revelation that she was finding hard to reconcile to the stranger standing in front of her. She did not know Sarah Connor or remember her life with the woman and her son but apparently she was supposed to. And it was this forgotten life that was making her irritable and on-edge, like she was being shown a fleeting glimpse of something important but the memory of what that importance was disappearing as soon as she tried to make it take form in her head.

Alison could see the barely hidden pain behind Sarah's eyes every time the woman glanced her way, could see the emotions she was trying to suppress as she averted her gaze when Alison caught her staring. And it was unsettling her, a part of her wanting desperately to take away the pain she could detect in the emerald eyes even though she had no idea why.

"Cameron…um, I mean, Alison," turning towards John who was still leaning against the counter at his words, Alison's gaze was curious. Since having led them to the truck earlier, he had barely spoken two words since, leaving the questions to his mother, "you really don't remember us? At all?"

John's voice was incredulous. Even though he had been aware of the possibility of Cameron's memory loss; he wasn't prepared for the reality of it. This time her memory loss seemed more permanent than the last. Last time when this had occurred, Cameron was still Cameron in a way, her mannerisms and behaviour glitching between the two personalities. But now having spent most of the drive back to the house studying her intently in the rear view mirror, John could sense that she really did think she was human, that she really thought that she was the Alison that she had been modelled from.

She had a natural fluidity about her now, a natural flowing grace that Cameron had never achieved fully. No matter how much Cameron had evolved she had never managed to shake the sometimes stiffness to her movements, always being conscious of who and what she was. But when he was watching her in the mirror on the drive back and listening to her interjecting softly now and again to Riley's comments, Cameron wasn't Cameron anymore, she really _**was**_ Alison.

Alison shook her head in frustration at the repeated question. She could feel the name niggling at the back of her head, an awareness that she should know the name that John had inadvertently called her but every time she tried to push through the fog, push through the cloud enveloping her brain in regards to her past memories, it kept slipping from her grasp like sand through her fingers.

Seeing John glance over towards Sarah with a raised eyebrow and a decidedly knowing look, Alison could feel her apprehension rising at the silent communication between mother and son. There was something they hadn't told her yet, something she knew that was very important, something to do with her.

"Are we, are we going to be staying here?" Riley's hesitant voice rang in the charged atmosphere as she glanced firstly at Alison then over towards John and Sarah.

Feeling all eyes on her, Sarah straightened and with a determined look on her face turned her eyes towards Alison. Noticing that she still held Riley's hand in a light grip, Sarah grimaced at the sight and pushed away her unflattering thoughts. Needing to do something with her hands Sarah turned towards the cupboards and pulled out a coffee mug. Picking up the coffee carafe she poured the contents into her mug as she mumbled softly, "Yes. This is Cam…Alison's home," stumbling slightly over the girl's name, Sarah pushed on, "we're her family."

John turned concerned eyes towards his mother at the stumble, knowing that this was hard on her. She had spent so much time on trying to find Cameron, on focusing on the girl's return to her that it must be causing her all sorts of pain at being unable to have the kind of reunion she had probably envisaged.

"John, can you, can you show Came…Alison and Riley to the spare room? It's late. We'll continue this discussion tomorrow." And with that Sarah walked out of the room gripping firmly onto her coffee mug as if her life depended on it, her shoulders set rigidly unable to bear the thought of finally having Cameron under the same roof as her but not in the same bed.

Watching his mother's exit silently John sighed as an insane desire suddenly coursed through his body making him want to grab a hold of Cameron by the shoulders to shake her violently. To do something that would bring her memories back of who they were and what they meant to her, what she meant to them. Feeling resentment towards the girl at not remembering the people who had become her family and seemingly having been so easily dismissed from her thoughts as if they had made no impact on her at all, John turned a brooding frown onto Alison.

"Come on, it's this way." Not waiting for them to follow, John walked out of the kitchen.

Alison glanced over towards Riley in bewildered surprise at John's abrupt departure as if she would know what had triggered his sullen behaviour towards them. Getting a shrug in response, Alison quickly clambered to her feet and followed after the retreating boy, her eyes straying unconsciously in the direction that Sarah had walked out of.

* * *

Sarah could feel her heart beating in her ears, her blood pulsing in her veins as she ran, the heavy thumping of her feet on the hardened concrete below throbbing in time to her erratic breathing. Looking over her right shoulder briefly, Sarah caught a glimpse of the terminator chasing her, its steps weighted down by the endoskeleton hidden under its skin, each footstep striking fear into her frantically beating heart.

Wiping away the sweat dripping down her temples, Sarah could feel the heat of the mid-day sun beating down mercilessly as she scrambled over a sandy rise, the slight breeze she could feel in the air doing nothing to soothe the stickiness of her skin.

Scrabbling on hands and feet for purchase on the sandy gravel, Sarah could hear the terminators footsteps getting closer; it's even breathing a contrast to her ragged gasping to get air into her burning lungs. She didn't know how long she'd been running but by the feel of her legs getting heavier and heavier with each staggering step and her body feeling each jarring impact on the hard surface, Sarah only knew that she couldn't stop.

To stop meant her death.

Glancing around her surroundings trying to find a place to hide, Sarah grimaced at the barren landscape in front of her. Stretching out before her was an empty space of a dusty, sun cracked vista, the waves from the scorching heat billowing slowly up from the ground it touched.

"Sarah."

Sarah froze at the sound of her name, catching the familiar voice calling out to her. Turning her head to look over her shoulder again, Sarah's face turned to one of panic this time as she spotted the pool of molten lava that had appeared out of nowhere with Cameron half submerged in the middle of the fiery heat.

Not knowing where the other terminator had gone, Sarah slowly turned around and made her way towards Cameron, her eyes glued to the calm face before her which was so incongruous to the lava eating away at Cameron's lower body. The girl was sinking to her death and her calm and relaxed demeanour was throwing Sarah for a loop.

"Cameron…" Croaking softly Sarah edged as close as she could to the molten pit, her hands stretching out in helpless futility as Cameron continued to sink slowly her gaze never leaving Cameron's face.

"Please Cameron…I, I need you. Don't, don't go…" Stretching her arms out as far as they would go Sarah could feel the heat battering into her skin, the hotness making her arms flinch as the burning sensation began to radiate everywhere the hot air touched.

Watching helplessly as Cameron was now submerged up to her neck in endoskeleton melting lava; Sarah could feel the overpowering panic and desperation begin to take hold, her mind trying to deny the inevitable outcome in front of her.

"Goodbye Sarah. I love you."

Cameron's features softened and her brown orbs staring intently into Sarah's own emerald green changed into their familiar warmth as she smiled softly at Sarah standing in frozen horror in front of her.

"Cameron no!"

Sarah shot up with a jerk, the hoarse cry dying softly on her lips in her darkened bedroom as the warm night air soothed the ice cold sweat from her body. Feeling her heart racing wildly in her chest as the images from her nightmare continued to revolve slowly inside her head, Sarah sat up further on the bed, kicking off the twisted blankets wrapped firmly around her body. Kneeling on hands and knees Sarah tried to get her breathing under control as she closed her eyes and concentrated on the rise and fall of her chest, the distraction beginning to ease away the soul consuming pain and desperation coursing through her entire body.

This was a recurring nightmare, one that had started when Cameron had gone missing and it was always the same. It started with her being chased by an unknown terminator, sometimes in the barren desert, sometimes in the city streets, wherever her surroundings were however, it would always suddenly change and end with Cameron sinking to her death in a molten lava pit. Sarah could still feel the helplessness washing over her terrified body, the knowledge that she was unable to do anything for Cameron except watch her die swirling around in her head.

Shaking off the slight trembling in her body, Sarah drew in one last calming breath before sitting up on her haunches, her hands weaving through her hair tiredly. Glancing around her darkened room Sarah sighed and moved to get off the bed, knowing that sleep was now impossible.

Pulling on sweats and a t-shirt, Sarah made her way to the door. It was going to be another lonely night of keeping vigil.

* * *

Hearing the creaking of the front door behind her Sarah stiffened slightly but kept her eyes focused on the driveway in front of her. This had become a habit of hers after she couldn't go back to sleep. The soothing sounds of the night time noises and the tranquillity of the moonlit night itself settled her racing heart, quelled her troubled thoughts from a nightmare that she never seemed to escape from. Cameron was still gone.

Sensing Alison's uncertainty as she stood hesitantly behind her, Sarah sighed and closed her eyes briefly before taking a deep breath. She had known it was the girl the moment the door had opened behind her catching Cameron's unique scent in the light breeze pervading the night air.

"It's ok. I can use the company." Turning finally to stare at the still standing girl behind her, Sarah nodded her head and slid over to the side on the step to accommodate her. "Why aren't you sleeping anyway?"

"I don't sleep…much."

Hearing the familiar words from the girl who was now settling comfortably down beside her that was so reminiscent of Cameron Sarah could feel her eyes suddenly wet with unshed tears. Gasping in a soft breath at the unexpected pain washing over her, Sarah clenched her hands on her thighs to stop the shivering she could feel beginning to travel up her body.

"Are you ok?" Giving Sarah a startled glance at her reaction to her words, Alison turned around to gaze at Sarah in concern.

Feeling Alison's thigh brush against hers as she turned towards her and the innocent look of concern bestowed her way, Sarah felt like bawling her eyes out at the politeness of the question. Closing her eyes again Sarah inhaled a deep breath, knowing that she had to compose herself before she frightened the poor girl.

"I'm, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

Giving Alison a brief reassuring smile at the confused expression on her face, Sarah unconsciously reached out a hand to trace her cheek lightly, feeling the warmth emanating from the soft skin underneath her fingers. Inhaling sharply at the familiar tingles migrating from her fingertips, down her hand and up through her arm Sarah could only remain frozen as her head was suddenly inundated with images of Cameron and their life together before the girl's disappearance.

Alison was mesmerised by the darkening emerald eyes in front of her and the feel of soft fingers on her cheek. Holding her breath at the faraway look in Sarah's eyes as she continued to stroke softly, almost absently against her skin, Alison could do nothing but wait expectantly as Sarah's head moved slowly towards hers.

Feeling the soft brush of cool lips on her own, Alison melted as her eyes closed of their own accord, feeling the rightness in the kiss travelling all the way down to her toes. Moving her hands to grip firmly onto Sarah's waist, Alison deepened the kiss unconsciously, shivering at the touch of a warm tongue slowly wending its way into her mouth.

Sarah groaned softly at the taste of Cameron's tongue with her own, the sensations driving spikes of electricity through her veins. She had missed this, missed Cameron so much and here she was finally, in her arms, her body pressing gently against her own. She could feel the overwhelming rush of desire coursing through her body, the need for Cameron making her forget that this wasn't Cameron that underneath the kiss Cameron had no idea of who she was or that she had ever been in love with her at all.

Wrenching her lips away with a sudden lightening clarity, Sarah dropped her hands that had wrapped themselves around Alison's neck as if they had been scalded with hot water and moved away jerkily. Avoiding Alison's confused stare back at her Sarah ran a trembling hand through her rumpled sleep hair and stood up on unsteady legs preparing to leave.

"I'm, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

Alison glanced up at Sarah's stiff form standing hesitantly looking everywhere but at her, feeling an overwhelming rush of compassion and something else settling in her body. And it was the something else that made Alison want to reach out, want to soothe the obvious pain and uncertainty she could see clearly on Sarah's face.

"No, don't go. Please…please stay. It's ok."

Tensing in consternation as she felt a firm grip on her hand, Sarah glanced down towards Alison and felt her resolve crumbling at the lost and bewildered look on the girl's face. Sitting back down hesitantly but with as much space as she could get between them on the porch step, Sarah felt the loss of the touch immediately as the girl released her hand.

"I'm sorry."

Hearing the softly spoken words Sarah's features turned to one of startled confusion, wondering why the girl was apologising to her when she had been the one who had initiated the kiss, "For what?"

"For not remembering you." Focusing her eyes intently in front of her, Alison could feel a hot blush warming her skin as she felt Sarah's blazing eyes burning into her.

Sarah inhaled sharply, feeling her breath catch in her throat at the unexpected words.

"I…I really want to, remember you that is. But when I try…things become even more foggier. It's like the words to a forgotten song or tune on the tip of my tongue but the more I chase it, the quicker it seems to escape me."

Sarah remained silent as she studied Alison intently, sensing the girl's overwhelming confusion and frustration over a situation she had no control of.

"You love her don't you? Cameron?" Glancing over towards Sarah and then looking away again at the searing heat emanating from within the green orbs; Alison reached unconsciously for the diamond resting between her breasts and palmed it absently. She could still feel her insides reacting to the impromptu kiss and another layer of confusion settling on top of her already confused mind.

Sarah's eyes narrowed at the girl's actions as the diamond she had given Cameron came into view. Reaching out a trembling hand, Sarah gently removed the stone from Alison's grasp and rubbed the glittering surface softly, almost desperately as she stifled another overwhelming wave of longing.

"Yes. I do."

Silence fell again as Sarah's soft reply was carried away on the night air. Reluctantly dropping the stone she turned her gaze away to stare absently in front of her. Seeing her gift to Cameron still hanging around the girl's neck had shaken her, she had not expected such a painful reminder of a past that she still wanted in her present and future. Especially after a kiss that was still leaving her trembling and weak; her mind still firing off snapshots of her and Cameron together.

Alison mulled over the confession and Sarah's actions, her face thoughtful as she took in the pain she could see on the older woman's features.

"This was from you wasn't it? To her?"

Sarah sighed and rubbed a hand across her tired eyes nodding her head in affirmation as she willed her itching hands to not reach out and touch the girl again. She needed to hold Cameron, wanted to touch her so desperately she could literally feel her hands aching at the effort to remain where they were.

"Do you want it back?"

"What?" Startled out of her reverie at the question Sarah turned unbelieving eyes onto Alison who was studiously avoiding looking at her as her hand continued to palm the stone absently.

"I…I mean, you gave it to Cameron and…I'm…not Cameron."

Sarah closed her eyes at the hesitant confirmation to her thoughts, her hands clasping tightly together around her knees in reaction.

"It was…a gift and I don't ask for gifts back. If you don't want it it's up to you what you do with it, you can throw it away if you want to." Although her words were casual, Sarah could feel her throat tightening at the thought.

"No! I…I do. I want it. It…comforts me." Alison's face was horrified at the suggestion and seeing the pinched expression on Sarah's face.

Feeling the tension easing slightly from her shoulders a little at Alison's words, Sarah sighed softly and leant back against the top step watching the lightening sky up ahead. She hadn't realised that they had been sitting out here for so long finally feeling her backside twinge in protest at the sudden knowledge. Shifting around a little to ease the discomfort, Sarah knew she should get up and start her day, do something besides torturing herself sitting next to the girl she loved who had no memories of her, but Sarah didn't want to. Even though knowing it wasn't Cameron sitting beside her, it still gave her some measure of comfort in having the girl's presence close.

"There's something else you haven't told me though isn't there?"

Once again startled out of her quiet musings, Sarah turned her gaze towards Alison but remained silent waiting for the girl to continue.

"I sensed it in the kitchen last night. You and John had this look on your faces when I admitted to not having any memories of who I was. There's something about me that has you both on edge isn't there? Something I need to know but you're both unwilling to tell me?

Turning a beseeching and lost look onto Sarah once more, Alison reached out a hand and gripped one of Sarah's desperately in hers, firmly pushing the kiss from her thoughts.

"Who am I Sarah?"

* * *

Entering the kitchen silently in the still early morning, Derek glanced out the window and saw Sarah and Cameron, or was it Alison now, sitting outside on the front steps. Grimacing wryly at his thoughts, Derek turned away and headed towards the coffee machine. John had filled him in last night about Cameron's amnesia when he had returned home and although he was surprised that a machine could lose their memories without them being scrubbed clean, he had accepted it. Hell, if he could time travel back to the past, why couldn't a machine have amnesia and think she was the girl that she had been modelled from? Stranger things had happened.

Grimacing again at his thoughts Derek felt surprise settling in as he realised that calling Cameron a machine hadn't sat well on his conscience. He hadn't thought of her as a machine for a while now, seeing the girl evolving more and more as the days went by. Whether or not it was possible and whether or not he wanted to believe it, he couldn't deny something that was right in front of his eyes.

Grabbing a hold of his coffee mug Derek wandered back to the window again, watching Sarah and Alison silently as they sat outside talking. Seeing the sudden apprehensive expression on Sarah's face, Derek gripped his mug harder feeling a sudden tension settling onto his shoulders.

"Whatcha watching?" Jerking back in startled reaction to John's mumbled comment as he stepped groggily into the kitchen, surprised at seeing him up before ten, Derek turned away reluctantly from the window with a frown on his face.

"Why are you up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep." Giving a wide yawn in response, John sidled over to stand beside Derek, staring out the window curiously.

"What do you think they're talking about?"

Derek shrugged his shoulders and leant against the counter, taking a sip from his coffee in the process.

"I think there's a lot that Sarah needs to tell Cameron, uh, I mean Alison."

"Yeah, I do that too. Do you think she'll tell her who she was?"

Shrugging again Derek replied nonchalantly, "I think she should, but you know your mother, she never does what we expect her to do."

John grinned at the backhand gripe, his eyes still trained on Sarah and Alison outside. Yawning again John turned to walk away from the window when he heard Alison suddenly screaming in denial.

"No! That's not true! I don't believe you!"

Turning back to the window again, with Derek pressed tightly against his side peering outside as well, John could see that Alison was now standing in front of Sarah, her body trembling violently with a look of horror on her face.

Seeing Sarah stand up and walking hesitantly towards the girl, John could only watch the unfolding scene outside helplessly.

"No! Don't touch me!"

Hearing the hysteria in the girl's voice, John gripped the counter in consternation as Alison suddenly turned and ran. Seeing his mother watching her running form with a worried and helpless look on her face, John ran to the front door and down the steps to stand beside Sarah.

"John…" Turning towards John with a lost and broken look on her face, Sarah gripped his arm in helpless supplication seeing her indecision to run after the obviously upset girl or to leave her alone for now.

"I'll go after her Mom, it'll be ok." Giving his mother a reassuring squeeze on the arm, John turned and ran after Alison.

"You told her?" Derek's voice was half accusation and half approval.

Turning at the voice to see Derek standing rigidly against the railing, Sarah turned back briefly towards Alison and John's running form before schooling her features into an indecipherable mask as she walked up the steps towards the front door.

"I had to. She asked and I couldn't lie to her. She needed to know."

Sensing Sarah's desperate desire to hold on to a composure he could see beginning to crack at her words, Derek turned his gaze away from her to look out towards the shed, seeing John's form disappearing inside.

"Let's hope that she doesn't do anything stupid."

Feeling the strain of seeing Alison's horrified look on her face when she had told the girl the truth about who she was, Sarah willed away the trembling she could feel beginning to start in the pit of her stomach. Turning back once more in the direction Alison had run to, Sarah hesitated as the overwhelming desire to run after her returned full force.

"Leave it alone for now Sarah. She needs time and besides, John will help her."

Knowing that Derek was right and that there was nothing more she could do, Sarah turned back to the house reluctantly, hoping that she hadn't made the wrong choice after all.

TBC...


	12. Chapter 12

_**Author's note:**__ sorry for the short-ish update this time round everyone_

_

* * *

_**Part Twelve**

Stumbling as she ran wildly, Alison had no idea where she was going, only that she needed to get away, needed to free herself from her world crashing down around her.

She was a terminator, a machine from the future designed to infiltrate and kill.

It was worse than anything she had imagined, could imagine.

She wasn't even _**human**_. She was _**created**_**.**

She was a terminator called Cameron Phillips who had been sent back from the future with a mission to protect John Connor and to stop Skynet, Judgement Day from occurring.

How was that possible? How was _**she**_ possible?

It didn't make sense, nothing made sense.

She was a machine.

A cybernetic organism that had an endoskeleton instead of bones, a chip instead of a brain, zeros and ones instead of human awareness.

She had been created and not born. A machine modelled off the person who she had no memories of either, only her name.

Feeling the hysteria rising inside her, Alison could feel herself begin to hyperventilate, her breath coming out in short sharp gasps, her body trembling violently in reaction. Reaching blindly for the door handle on the shed that had suddenly appeared in front of her, Alison groped for it desperately as she tried to calm herself down.

Finally finding the handle, Alison twisted it violently and stepped inside to lean against the wall bent over with hands on her knees as she felt her chest rising and falling in a desperate attempt to get air into her lungs.

"It's ok, it's ok."

Hearing the words as if from a tunnel, Alison could feel her vision losing focus, her surroundings blending into a dull grey as the horrified tremors continued to wrack her body.

John could only watch in helplessness as he murmured soothing nonsensical words while rubbing on Alison's back in comforting circles. Waiting for her to settle and calm, John had no idea how he was going to help her. Alison didn't know him, not like Cameron did; to her he was just a stranger that had been thrust into her life unexpectedly.

Feeling the shaking begin to subside and her breathing and vision slowly returning to normal, Alison could feel John's hands rubbing her back and hear the comforting words falling from his mouth. Shrugging off his touch and indicating that she was ok; Alison took a deep breath and slid down the wall to sit on the floor, head hanging between her legs wearily. Feeling the wetness on her cheeks, Alison could only wipe at them in surprise, never realising that she had even been crying.

John continued to look on in silence, relieved that the girl had finally stopped hyperventilating and seemed a little bit calmer than before although still looking frightened and bewildered.

"Are you, are you ok?"

"Not really no."

Feeling the slight trembling starting to take over again as Sarah's words came back to her, Alison took deep calming breaths, trying to will the overwhelming panic away as she started to count. Focussing and visualising on the increasing numbers in her head, Alison could feel the tremors and panic receding slowly into the background, clearing her head from the blackness she could feel sitting on the edges waiting to take control.

Suddenly Alison's head snapped up as a thought entered her head and swivelling her head up to grace John with a narrow eyed stare, Alison blurted out forcefully, "Can I die?"

Inhaling a sharp breath at the abrupt question, John moved to sit down beside Alison wearily not caring that his pyjama pants and t-shirt were going to get dirty from the dusty floor and walls.

"In…in a way, yes. If we, if we remove your chip and…destroy it, you'll, you'll die."

A tense silence fell in the shed as Alison absorbed John's hesitant answer.

"But I can't _**die**_ otherwise right? I'm super-fucking-girl except for the cape?"

Hearing the derision in the girls voice John winced at the words.

"Well, you really can't fly and you're not affected by kryptonite."

Seeing the reluctant grimace on Alison's face at his weak attempt at humour, John sighed in relief. Turning serious eyes onto the girl, John reached out and clasped her arm lightly, "Alison, you're not invincible. You may be able to stop bullets and lift cars over your head but you aren't invincible."

Seeing the girl tense again at his words and touch, John waited until she turned her head unwillingly towards him.

"With enough bullets your physical body can be damaged."

"But the machine will live won't it? Just the outside package becomes unfixable?"

John winced at the harsh words and turned his gaze away from the brown eyes he was so used to seeing with some familiarity in them but was now a strangers eyes to him.

"Would Sarah, would Sarah still be in love with…Cameron, if there wasn't a pretty layer hiding the metal inside? Or how about you? Would you be comfortable living with something that reminded you every day of what you were fighting against?"

John could hear the pain in Alison's voice, the doubts and confusion so evident on her face. The horror of realising what she was.

Inhaling a deep breath to calm his nerves, John grabbed a hold of her arm again and swung Alison round to face him, his eyes hard and determined.

"We _**love**_ Cameron. She is _**not**_ a machine. I know this is hard for you but regardless of what Cameron is made of, she's a part of this family, a part of _**us**_."

Standing up hastily Alison shrugged his hand off her arm, feeling her anger bubbling to the surface.

"But you didn't answer my question did you? This Cameron doesn't exist, _**I**_ don't exist. Without this outside layer, I'm just metal!"

John stood up also, feeling anger invade his body at Alison's denial of Cameron's right to exist.

"Yes you're metal underneath but so what?" His chest rising up and down in anger John continued resolutely, determined to make the girl understand that Cameron was more than just her metal.

"What does it even mean to exist anyway? We exist when we're aware of the world through our senses. Cameron has senses, _**you**_ have senses. The way I see it, you walk, you talk, so you exist. We could get into a philosophical discussion about it but that's still not going to change anything is it?"

Silence fell again as John stood glaring angrily at Alison, locked in a silent duel that neither were willing to back down from.

"I want to see."

"Wha…what?" Confused at the abrupt statement, John could only stare at Alison in bewilderment.

"I want to see. I want to see what I am." Alison's voice was hard and her eyes determined, she needed to see for herself, needed to see the proof with her own eyes.

"I, I don't think that's a good idea. Cameron, Cameron had access to programs that she could use to turn off her pain receptors, I, I don't think that you do?"

"I don't care. I _**want**_ to see."

John knew that the girl was beyond arguing with as he detected the hint of steel in her voice. Running a hand through his hair wearily John closed his eyes and mumbled a silent prayer hoping that his mother wouldn't kill him when she found out.

"Fine, what do you want to me do?"

* * *

"Um, hello. Do you know where Alison is?"

Riley felt her shoulders stiffen as conversation suddenly stopped and both eyes sitting at the kitchen table swivelled in her direction, pinning her with indecipherable looks. Taking note of Sarah's frown, Riley turned her attention onto the unknown man sitting at the kitchen table.

Shrugging off her worries about Cameron and seeing Riley hesitate on the threshold of the doorway Sarah schooled her features into neutrality as she forced her dislike towards the girl away. It was hardly her fault that Cameron had amnesia and didn't remember who she was. Just because the girl was pretty and had spent most of last night in the same bed as Cameron didn't mean that there was anything going on with the two.

Pushing her thoughts away from something that she definitely did not want to think about, Sarah forced a polite smile onto her face, "Riley, this is Derek, Derek, Riley. Cam…Alison's friend."

Derek raised an eyebrow towards Sarah and saw the woman shake her head minutely. Riley didn't know that Cameron was a cybernetic organism.

Tilting his head in acknowledgement to Riley at the introduction, Derek turned back to the guns he was cleaning on the kitchen table.

"Alison's outside with John, down by the shed."

Finally take note of the assortment of weaponry on the kitchen table in surprised shock and sensing more to the words than what Sarah was saying, Riley gave Sarah and Derek one last wary look before turning to the front door.

"Riley?"

Turning back at the hesitant tone to Sarah's voice, Riley waited as the woman fidgeted uncomfortably with her hands, avoiding her eyes as she looked down on to the kitchen table.

"You're a good…friend of Cam…Alison's aren't you?"

Curious now where the conversation was going, Riley murmured her acquiescence to the question softly as she waited with her hand on the door knob.

"That's good. She's, she's going to need a good friend."

Giving Sarah a perplexed look at the strangeness of the conversation, Riley glanced towards Derek helplessly for clarification. Not getting any and seeing the both of them stare at each other in silent communication again; Riley could only shrug internally in confusion before heading out the door in search of Alison.

"Do you think it's wise that we let her stay with us?"

"What can we do Derek? Drop her off at the nearest shelter? She knows where and who we are, or at least who I am, it's better for us if she stays here where we can keep an eye on her. Besides, she's the only person that Cameron knows. If we kick her out, what's to say that Cameron won't follow after her?"

Sarah's voice was pained as she avoided Derek's eyes. How could she tell him that she was afraid? Afraid that Cameron would be lost to her and that she would choose Riley over her?

* * *

"Alison, I really don't think I should do this. It's gonna hurt like a bitch and that's putting it mildly." John studied the girl intently, willing her to change her mind as he held the sharp knife in his sweaty palms that had been stored in the shed for this exact purpose.

Alison's bare right arm was laid out on the bench wrist upwards as if it was a sacrifice waiting to appease the Gods. Looking down towards the white skin and seeing the blue veins existing underneath it John gulped down his uneasiness. It was human flesh and the idea of cutting into it was causing him all sorts of ickiness.

"I _**need**_ to see John. If you won't do it, I will." Alison's voice was determined as she took note of John's uneasiness and the slight shaking of his hand.

John gazed into the brown eyes in front of him once more catching the steely determination in them as he took a calming breath to soothe his jagged nerves. He could do this, could cut her as Alison wanted him to do.

"No, I can, I can do this."

Taking one last calming breath, John placed the tip of the knife against Alison's skin halfway up her arm. Feeling the girl tense at the feel of cold steel John hesitated. Looking up into eyes that held no recognition of who he was, John pressed down on the knife and sliced down.

Alison could feel the excruciating pain enveloping her as the knife tip pierced her skin and sliced down her arm. She could feel it coursing through her body, numbing her senses, clouding her brain to everything but the gaping wound slowly opening up. Gritting her teeth from screaming in wild animal pain, Alison gripped harder onto the shelf with her left hand, feeling the sweat from the effort of holding in her scream dripping down her face.

Seeing the blood flow freely down her arm and spreading into a thickening pool on the bench, Alison could feel herself getting woozy, the blood loss making her legs weak and shaky. Holding on as tightly as she could to her slowly fading vision, Alison could see the hint of metal shining through the wound as John cut deeper.

Gasping in a shocked breath at seeing the proof that she didn't want to see, wasn't even sure she had even believed in, Alison could do the only thing she could do in her current situation.

She passed out.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Jerking his head around at the voice, John could see Riley's shocked and horrified face as the girl stood frozen on the threshold of the shed door. Before he could reply however the arm he was holding suddenly slackened. Turning worried eyes back onto Cameron, John could only watch in helpless horror as the girl's eyes rolled back in her head and with a soft sigh, passed out onto the shed floor in a crumpled heap.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. You're a fucking psycho. Get the hell away from her!"

With a tortured scream Riley came barrelling inside the shed and body tackled John to the floor beside Alison, the knife clattering out of his hands as he landed with a thump. Struggling against the hold Riley had around his neck, John squirmed to get loose.

"Riley! Riley goddamnit its ok, it's not what you're thinking! Let me go!"

Riley ignored him and held on tighter, the fear for Alison's safety clouding her brain.

"Riley! Stop it, please. We need to help Came…Alison! She's bleeding on the floor!"

With those words, Riley froze and looked over towards her friend still lying in a crumpled heap on her side, the blood pooling underneath her outstretched arms. Hopping off John reluctantly Riley crawled on her hands and knees towards Alison, her breath catching in her throat at the sight of the gaping wound in Alison's arm and the metal showing through.

"What the hell is going on?"

John quickly scrambled to his feet and ignoring Riley for the time being, took his shirt off hastily and wrapped it around Cameron's arm to stop the bleeding.

"I'll explain everything later. You need to go and get Mom and Derek. We need to get her back to the house and we can't carry Alison by ourselves, she's too heavy." Seeing Riley hesitate at his words and the unbelieving expression on her face about Alison's weight, John could feel his panic taking over.

"Riley go! Now!"

Riley hesitated once more as she stared at the pale complexion on her friends face and then gritting her teeth in confused anger, stood up and ran out of the shed.

John breathed a sigh of relief as Riley did as she was told. Lifting Alison's head onto his lap and pressing the t-shirt onto the wound as hard as he could to stop the bleeding, John gazed down in worry at the whiteness to Alison's cheeks and the girl's closed eyelids with only one thought on his mind.

His mother was so going to kill him.

TBC...


	13. Chapter 13

**Part Thirteen**

"How could you do something so stupid and dangerous John?"

Hearing the anger in Sarah's voice and seeing the stiffness in her body as she glared at him from across the kitchen table, John sat in sullen silence.

After having brought Alison back into the house and seeing his mother sit in stony silence while he explained haltingly about what had occurred as she patched Alison's wound, John knew he should have resisted harder against the girl's pleas.

Feeling Riley's accusing glare on him and Derek's look of disbelief at his actions, John had silently left his mother's bedroom to go change. He knew once Sarah had confirmed that Alison was ok, she would come looking for him.

Derek was sitting beside him, watching Sarah in silence as the waves of anger rolled off her. Riley had chosen to remain in the bedroom watching over Alison her face showcasing her confusion and fear over what had happened and what she had seen.

"She wanted me to." John's mumbled reply was belligerent as he hung his head in shame at what he had done avoiding Sarah's icy glare.

"I see. So if she had wanted you to shoot her you would have done that too?" Sarah's tone was deceptively soft as she gripped the table harder still staring daggers into John.

"Mom! You didn't _**see**_ her ok? She was freaked out!"

"And what? You thought _**cutting **_into her would calm her down?"

Slapping her hands on the table in anger Sarah could feel her control slipping, could feel the anger trying to take over. Stepping away from the table jerkily, Sarah folded her arms across her chest, trying to calm her racing emotions as she looked away from John's sorrow filled face. She couldn't look at him right now. Her anger and panic for Cameron would make her do something that she would regret later.

"She thinks she's _**human**_ John. What if, what if she's capable of dying? We don't know who Cameron is anymore or how she'll react. We can't experiment on her like she's a machine." Sarah's voice was soft and filled with pain.

"I wasn't experimenting. She was freaking out about what you had told her and I was trying to help."

"So you're saying all this is _**my**_ fault?"

Turning to give John an incredulous look, Sarah glanced over towards Derek's solemn expression as if waiting for him to back her up.

"Sarah, what's done is done. It's only natural that the girl's going to want the proof. John can't be blamed for it even though it was a stupid thing to do." Giving John a pointed glare Derek fell silent.

Running a hand through her hair wearily, Sarah turned her gaze onto John again, catching the look of sorrow and shame on his face. Sighing internally at the sight before her, Sarah could feel the last vestiges of her anger disappearing. John was right, this _**was**_ her fault.

This whole situation from the beginning was all on her. If only she had listened to Cameron in the first place when the girl had wanted another plan to stop the terminator, if only she had listened when Cameron had told her it was a bad idea to let the FBI capture her. Cameron losing her memories was all on her and her inability to listen to anybody else. To think that she had all the answers and knew what she was doing.

She had taken Cameron for granted. Her ego taking the girl's comforting presence beside her as if it was a given, that Cameron's love for her would never make the girl leave, that she would always be there to protect her and to back her up when the need arose. And it was this thinking that had filled her with a false sense of bravado that nothing could go wrong, that Cameron was indestructible and everything would be ok.

And now here she was, in a situation of her own making. Cameron was broken, possibly beyond repair this time and she didn't know what to do.

Sarah Connor needed Cameron, that was plainly obvious but did Cameron need _**her**_ now that she didn't even know who Sarah Connor was anymore?

* * *

Entering her bedroom as silently as she could Sarah could see Riley sitting beside the bed looking down at Alison lying peacefully in sleep. Feeling her breath catch in her throat at the soft and vulnerable look gracing Alison's features, Sarah could feel her heart tightening painfully. She had never had the opportunity to watch Cameron in sleep, seeing as she had never needed it before. Watching her now, Sarah was suddenly flooded by the love coursing through her body for the girl that had come to mean her whole world.

Walking slowly towards the bed, Sarah stopped hesitantly beside Riley, her eyes never leaving Alison's still form.

"Has, has she wakened?" Clearing her throat, Sarah glanced down to catch Riley's concerned features.

"No, not yet."

Sitting on the bed beside Alison Sarah took one of her hands in hers and reached out to brush a lock of hair away from her face gently.

"Hopefully the shot we gave her for the pain will keep her under for a little while longer yet."

"Sarah…what's going on? Why did Alison have, have metal under her skin?"

Blanching at the thought of what she had seen before John had wrapped Alison's wound in the impromptu bandage; Riley turned a confused expression towards Sarah.

"Riley, come with me and I'll explain." John's voice interrupted before Sarah could gather breath to reply.

Swivelling her head around to catch John entering the bedroom, Sarah gave him a silent look of gratitude. She didn't think she had the fortitude to deal with Riley's questions when all she wanted to do was to hold Cameron in her arms.

Catching his mother's look John gave her a small smile, it was the least he could do. Knowing that she was probably wanting some alone time with Cameron, John had followed silently after her, needing to get Riley out of the bedroom so she could do so.

"Come on, Alison will be fine."

Giving Alison one final concerned glance and catching the look of longing on Sarah's face, Riley acquiesced to the soft command and followed after John, closing the bedroom door softly behind her.

Giving in to the temptation as soon as she heard the door closing behind Riley that had assuaged her since entering her room, Sarah released the hand she was holding and lifted up the covers. Gently clambering onto the bed, Sarah laid down behind Alison and throwing the blankets back over the still sleeping girl wrapped her arms around her waist. Spooning as close as she could to the warm body beside her, Sarah felt her body finally relaxing as she inhaled Cameron's familiar scent.

For this moment in time whether Cameron knew she was Cameron or not, Sarah's heart rejoiced at the feeling of the familiar body in her arms again. Closing her eyes and relishing in the feel of holding Cameron, Sarah allowed the exhaustion to swallow her, falling into a deep and peaceful sleep that had eluded her ever since the girl had gone missing.

* * *

Stirring groggily Alison snuggled deeper into the heat of the warm body surrounding her not wanting to wake up fully as she felt the feel of strong arms enveloping her from behind. Groaning softly at the pain radiating up her right arm as she shifted slightly, Alison opened her eyes blearily to see a room bathed in the soft glow of the lamps on the bedside tables.

Turning her head gently behind her, Alison was startled but surprisingly comforted to find Sarah's head lying next to her on the pillow. Loosening the arms that were holding her as gently as possible without waking the sleeping woman, Alison turned over on her side to stare at Sarah's sleeping face.

Taking her eyes off Sarah's features briefly to study her surroundings, Alison wondered how she had come to be sleeping in the woman's bed. Holding her arm up slightly to gaze uncertainly at the white bandage now encasing her arm from elbow to wrist, Alison sighed softly.

So it was true. It wasn't just a bad nightmare after all.

Pushing away the horrifying thoughts beginning to creep into her head Alison lowered her arm and laid down gently to rest her head beside Sarah's on the pillow, her eyes gazing in wonder at the sleeping features in front of her. Suddenly becoming aware that her lips were surprisingly close to Sarah's as the woman continued to sleep peacefully, Alison pulled back with a startled frown. Willing away the hot blush that was now warming her whole body, Alison stifled the sudden desire to taste those lips again.

Studying Sarah curiously in sleep, Alison didn't know what to feel or think. With so many jumbling and chaotic thoughts running in her head everything was just a confused ball of emotions. She was a machine, one sent from the future who was apparently in love and in a relationship with the sleeping woman beside her. And she had no idea what to make of that discovery either.

Sarah was an enigma, pulling at her awareness, a woman who instantly captivated her whenever she was in the same room as her. She could see how Cameron had fallen in love with her, how could she not? Sarah was a strong focused woman, one who had the determination and grit to deal with what life had handed her. Her quiet strength and demanding presence evoking a natural respect from everyone around her, pulling them into the allure that was Sarah.

But what was she supposed to do now?

She wasn't Alison and yet she wasn't Cameron either. She was no one, a person in limbo with more questions than answers.

Why could she not remember anything? Why could she not remember the person lying next to her when she knew that Sarah was probably the most important person to Cameron? Where was she supposed to go now? Did Sarah expect her to stay? And if so _**could**_ she stay? Did she _**want **_to stay?

Sarah wasn't in love with her; she was in love with Cameron. So how was this going to work? Would it make Sarah's pain even more unbearable if she stayed giving Sarah a daily reminder of what she used to have? Could she live with Sarah not seeing _**her**_ but seeing Cameron instead? Did she _**want**_ Sarah to see her?

Groaning softly at the myriad of thoughts running through her head, Alison felt Sarah stirring softly beside her. Watching the woman's hands reach out unconsciously towards something, Alison stretched out her hand automatically and held Sarah's hand firmly in hers. Seeing the woman settle back into sleep again at her touch, Alison sighed softly and let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding.

Stretching out her left hand slowly, Alison stroked Sarah's cheek in wonder. Revelling in the smooth cheekbones Alison could feel the tingles travelling up and down her body at the touch. Even if she didn't remember who Sarah was, her body obviously did. Blushing hotly again at the decidedly X-rated direction her thoughts were heading down, Alison removed her hand from Sarah's cheek and continued staring at the woman in front of her as her eyelids slowly started to flutter.

Feeling a light brushing on her cheek bones Sarah struggled to open eyes heavy with sleep. Fluttering her eyelids open finally, Sarah was suddenly captured by the swirling hues of dark chocolate. Continuing to lose herself in the mesmerising orbs in front of her Sarah felt her breath catching in her throat, unable to look away.

Alison could feel her heart stopping at the look of overwhelming love bestowed on her from eyes glazed with sleep as Sarah struggled to full alertness. Captured by the smile slowly gracing Sarah's features, Alison could do nothing except to give in to the pull of tempting lips in front of her. Lowering her head slowly, her eyes glued to emerald green, Alison brushed her lips against Sarah's in a hesitant kiss.

Feeling Cameron's lips on hers Sarah closed her eyes as she succumbed to the familiar feelings of Cameron's touch coursing through her body. Moving her right hand to hold the girl's head tighter against hers, Sarah could only groan in suppressed need.

"Cameron…"

Alison pulled away slowly as the name reverberated softly in the silent room staring down into darkened green as Sarah blinked her eyes in confusion at the loss of contact on her lips.

"I'm not Cameron Sarah." Whispering softly so as not to startle the woman, Alison could feel her heart breaking at Sarah's crestfallen face as awareness eased into her mind.

Shifting back on the bed at Alison's denial, Sarah could feel overwhelming disappoint envelop her entire body. She had woken up to Cameron's warm eyes staring back at her and for a moment Sarah had forgotten that this wasn't Cameron lying next to her.

"I'm, I'm sorry." Closing her eyes as the waves of longing crashed over her, Sarah tried to stifle the tears she could already feel pooling in her eyes.

"Why? I was the one who started the kiss this time."

Wiping away the tears Sarah turned her head towards Alison with a tremulous smile and glanced down at the girl's bandaged arm with a frown welcoming the distraction.

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore but it's to be expected." Clenching her hand slowly, Alison grimaced at the sudden pain shooting up her arm.

Sitting up in bed and reaching over towards the night stand on her side, Sarah picked up the bottle of pills resting beside the lamp. Popping open the lid, Sarah shook out two white pills and silently handed them to Alison who was slowly sitting up as well. Reaching back for the water bottle as the girl took the pills from her outstretched palm without a word of protest Sarah couldn't help but wonder if maybe on the inside Cameron wasn't poking her tongue at her, making her point obvious about being able to take medication without any moaning or whining on her part.

Stifling her thoughts in regards to Cameron, Sarah crossed her legs on the bed and turned to Alison expectantly.

"I'm sorry you got hurt. John shouldn't have listened to you."

"It's ok, it wasn't his fault. I made him do it. I, I wanted to see for myself."

Hearing the reluctance in the girl's voice over something she wasn't ready to talk about, Sarah fell silent, wondering what she could do to ease her mind.

"Do you, do you want me to leave? My bedroom was the closest when we brought you in. I can sleep on the couch if you'd like?"

Throwing Sarah a startled glance at her offer, Alison reached out to halt her movements as Sarah prepared to get out of the bed.

"Please…stay. It's fine. It was kinda nice waking up in your arms."

Seeing the hot blush suffusing Cameron's cheeks, Sarah stared at the girl in wonder never having had the chance to see her blush before. Cameron shy was the sexiest and alluring thing Sarah had ever seen. Feeling her heart palpitate at the sight in front of her, Sarah forced her mind to remember that this was Alison and not Cameron.

Offering the girl a small but reassuring smile, Sarah settled back comfortably on the bed.

"So what happens now?"

Throwing a confused glance towards Alison at the unexpected question Sarah waited patiently for further explanation.

"I mean, now that I know who I am, my history. What do I do now?"

Seeing the fearful expression on Alison's face Sarah sighed and ran a hand through her hair wearily.

"You stay here, with us until we can find a way to bring your memories back."

"And if you don't? If I never remember being Cameron?"

Sarah inhaled sharply as Alison's question mirrored what had been tormenting her mind since the girl had been found. What was she going to do if Cameron never fully returned?

"I, I don't know. But your place is here, with us. You're a part of this family now and you'll always have a home with us."

Alison mulled over the words as she absently played with the necklace around her neck feeling the soothing weight of the stone once again washing over her.

"And Riley? Does she get to stay as well?" Alison felt instant guilt swarming her body as her thoughts returned to her absent friend. She had been so caught up in her own troubles that she hadn't even spared a thought to how she was doing.

Sarah's face furrowed into a frown at the question as feelings of jealousy suddenly shot through her body at the girl's obvious concern for her friend. Gritting her teeth in frustrated anger at her petty emotions, Sarah willed it away and concentrated on Alison. She really needed to get a grip. Alison having a friend was all that mattered; at least with Riley here she didn't have to feel so alone amongst a group of strangers.

"She can stay as well."

"And if we wanted to leave?"

Sarah froze at the seemingly casual question as she turned panicked eyes onto the girl sitting across from her.

"Would you want to leave?" Stalling for time over a question she didn't want to think about, Sarah could only wait with bated breath for the girl's answer.

"I, I don't know. I don't really have anything to keep me here and…" Alison's voice trailed off as she saw Sarah flinch at her answer. Realising that it had come out harsher than she had intended, Alison raised a hand to her mouth in horror, "I didn't mean..."

"It's ok. You're just stating the truth. You're not Cameron and…you have nothing to tie you to us, to this life…anymore." Sarah could feel the pain slowly invading her body at the thought of Cameron leaving. It was like a repeated nightmare of when the girl had wanted to leave to protect her, except this time, it wasn't Cameron who was going to leave her but Alison and she didn't know if she could persuade Alison to stay. Alison had no need or desire to stay, not like Cameron had.

Feeling an overwhelming headache starting to throb between her eyes, Sarah rubbed them tiredly.

"Come on, it's still late…or early. We should try and get some sleep again."

Settling back down on the bed Sarah pulled the blankets up to her chin and turned away to face the wall. Hearing the girl settling down beside her as well, Sarah wondered if she would get any sleep again tonight as her thoughts swirled around in a chaotic mess inside her head.

"Sarah?"

"Hmmm?" Unwilling to turn around to acknowledge the girl in fear of doing something that she definitely shouldn't, Sarah waited as the silence stretched.

"Would you, would you mind holding me again? I, I seem to sleep better when you do."

Hearing the shy uncertain voice behind her, Sarah felt her heart tumble inside her chest and allowed the weakness that had been building inside her to take over. Turning around, Sarah held out her arms silently as Alison shuffled closer. Feeling the solidness of Cameron's back against her chest, Sarah could feel her body relaxing again. Whatever tomorrow would bring, tonight Sarah was going to make the most of having Cameron in her bed and with the feel of the warm body against hers she could almost trick herself into believing that she really was holding Cameron in her arms.

* * *

About to knock on the closed bedroom door, Riley took a step back in surprise as it was suddenly opened to reveal Sarah standing on the other side. Giving her a small smile in greeting, Riley stepped inside as Sarah moved out of the way.

"I'll leave you two alone."

Giving Alison one last impenetrable glance and a head nod to Riley, Sarah walked out of the room.

"So…drama much?"

Alison couldn't help but grin at her friend's comment, the butterflies in her stomach disappearing as soon as she saw the returned cheeky grin and eye roll. She had been concerned about how Riley was going to take all the latest developments but going by her words and actions, it hadn't seemed to faze her at all.

"So, you're ok with…what I am? You're not freaked?"

Walking over to the bed Riley sat down comfortably beside Alison and grabbed her right hand gripping it firmly in hers, being careful not to disturb the bandaged wound.

"I can't say I wasn't a little freaked yesterday but that was only because I'd thought John had gone all 'Friday the 13th' on you. I was more concerned for you really."

"What about the…" Alison trailed off, unable to say the words as she looked away from Riley's concerned gaze.

"Metal?" Releasing a hand, Riley reached out to grasp Alison's chin lightly and swivelled her head back round to pin her with a resolute stare.

"I don't care about that. You are who you are. You've never hurt me and I could give a toss to what your past was. You know about mine and you've never once judged me for it."

Alison widened her eyes in incredulity at Riley comparing what she had gone through to what she had found out about herself and her past, "But that's not your fault! You had no control over that so why would I judge you?"

"And neither did you so why would I judge you?"

Alison made to protest over the statement, unbelieving that the girl had really understood who she was calling a friend.

"Stop it. I don't want to discuss it anymore. I care about you Alison; you've been a good friend to me since I barged into your life. Finding out that you're a robot isn't that big a deal cos you're not a robot to me, you're just Alison, who's my friend."

Silence fell as Alison ruminated on Riley's words still incredulous that the girl had accepted something so easily and readily just because she was her friend. Feeling tears pool in her eyes at the unconditional show of love and support, Alison gripped tighter onto Riley's hand.

"Cybernetic organism," mumbling softly through the tears that were now sliding down her cheeks, Alison gave Riley the most offended look she could muster.

"Excuse me?" Startled at the words, Riley could only stare in confusion.

"I'm a cybernetic organism, not a robot."

Laughing out loud at the words and the snippy expression on Alison's face, Riley let go of her hand and pulled her into a bear hug, "Well excuse me _**Miss Cybernetic Organism**__._"

Peeling off into relieved laughter along with Riley, Alison could feel herself getting lighter. Riley's acceptance for who she was in the short time they had known each other making her troubles not seem so insurmountable. Sarah and John had memories of Cameron to make them accept and want her, Riley only had memories of her and although Alison wouldn't have blamed her if she had wanted to get as far away from her as possible, the girl had accepted the revelation of who she was as nothing more than mere dramatics.

"Soooo…what's up with you and Sarah?"

Groaning softly at the look on her friends face as she pulled out of the hug, Alison could only blush and avert her eyes.

* * *

"Why don't you just fuck off?" Glaring blearily at the man that was standing next to him, Jake flipped him off before turning back to his scotch on the rocks sitting on the bar.

Tossing back the soothing liquid in one gulp, Riley's father signalled the bartender for another refill.

Stupid bitch. Thinking that she could just run away and that he would let her. Fucking slag making him look like a bastard. Seething quietly to himself, his anger rising more and more as the thoughts settled firmly in his head, Jake tossed back the scotch again and signalled for another.

"That's it buddy, you're cut off."

"What the fuck? Just gimme another one willya?" Slurring his words together at the bartender Jake raised his glass belligerently, clinking the ice in the bottom loudly.

"You've had enough. Go home."

"Fuck you. Who are you to tell me I've had enough?" Hopping off the barstool and stumbling to his feet, Jake grabbed onto the bar wildly, trying not to fall over.

"Come on mate, let's go."

Feeling hands holding him up, Jake glanced up blearily towards the burly man now standing at his side.

"Fuck you all and this piece of dump anyway." Shaking off the man's hands from under his armpits, Jake wobbled uneasily to the front door.

Turning around and giving everyone the fingers, Jake turned and stumbled outside, swearing black and blue as his head hit the door on the way out.

"Fuckin bitch, this is all her fault." Mumbling to himself Jake continued on in a drunken path as he tried not to fall over, not seeing the wary and cautious glances coming his way from the other pedestrians as they gave him a wide berth. "I'll find you you fucking bitch, you hear me, I'll fucking find you and then I'mma gonna show you what happens to little bitches that leave their daddy's."

Walking off into the darkened night Jake only had one thought in mind, find Riley and teach her a lesson she would never forget.

TBC...


	14. Chapter 14

_**Authors Note: **__I'm afraid that from this point on updates will be slower in coming. I have every intention of finishing this story so don't fret because there will be an ending and a happy one at that. Besides the girlfriend wants to know what happens and as everybody knows, keeping a girlfriend happy is always the number one priority isn't it? :)__Thanks for sticking with me and for all the people that have followed the updates and made the time to comment on every chapter posted so far, I really appreciate it, it has fuelled the desire to keep going and to finish it._

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* * *

_

**Part Fourteen**

"Mom, are we, are we ok?"

Hearing John's hesitant voice as he stepped into the kitchen Sarah sighed and turned away from the window to catch the uncertain smile on his face.

"Yes John, we're ok." Seeing the relieved expression on his face Sarah walked towards him and gave him a brief one armed hug as she ruffled his hair, "But don't do it again ok?"

John smiled at the words, knowing that everything was ok if his mother had forgiven him.

"Where is everyone? You'd think that having the weight of the world on our shoulders there'd be more huddling and furrowing of the brow." John's voice was mocking as he pulled away from his mother's grasp and smoothed out his ruffled hair, a scowl on his features at her actions.

"Came…Alison and Riley are outside. Derek's doing target practice I think out back."

"So what happens now?"

Sarah sighed at John's question as he unknowingly mirrored Alison's own last night.

"We get on with our life. Go back to the huddling and furrowing of the brow as you so aptly put it."

"And what? We just leave Cameron as she is?"

Watching his mother turn away at the seriousness of his question, John was struck by how sad she looked as she gazed out the window again. Moving closer so he could see what she was watching so intently outside, John could only frown in concern.

Alison and Riley were sitting on the lawn, joking and laughing over something someone said. Watching Cameron's face bathed in a happy glow as Riley reached over to punch her on the arm, John could only marvel at the difference a grin made to the girl's face. He had never seen Cameron laughing before and it was so incongruous to what he knew of her.

"She looks happy doesn't she?"

John turned a worried frown onto Sarah as she spoke softly, almost as if to herself as she continued to gaze lovingly at Cameron.

"Why do we need to bring her memories back? Doesn't Cameron deserve a life that she was never going to have? She thinks she's human. What's so wrong in giving her some happiness?"

"Mom…" Startled at her words, John placed a hand on Sarah's arm and waited until she turned her focus onto him, "What are you trying to say? That you'll give Cameron up so she can be happy?"

"I might not have a choice. Cameron's memories might never return and really, would it be so bad? Who are we to force a past on her that hasn't been all lollipops and roses?"

"But, but we need her, _**you**_ need her."

"I've been selfish John. Cameron's only ever wanted to make me happy and to protect me and what have I done for her? Nothing. I've taken her for granted and…"

"But you make her happy Mom, you've always been the only thing that Cameron has ever wanted for herself, how can you deny her that?" Interrupting softly John gripped Sarah's arm harder as her expression turned solemn.

"I'm not denying her anything." Turning away from John's worried frown, Sarah gazed out the window again, her eyes fixated on Cameron. "She's not Cameron anymore John. Don't you get it? She might never _**be**_ Cameron again and if, and if she wants to leave, wants to be as far away as possible from what we do, then don't we have to allow her that choice? Isn't that what being human is?"

"Mom…" John was in disbelief. His mother and Cameron had gone through so much to be together and now she was just willing to let it go, let Cameron go, "Or maybe you're just being a coward?"

Startled at the harsh tone to his words, Sarah turned back with a bewildered expression on her face.

"Excuse me?"

"Maybe you're just being a coward," repeating his words softly John stepped back his brows furrowing in concentration, "maybe you're just wanting to make this 'sacrifice' because you're scared. You're scared that Cameron won't return and you'll have to live with someone who you won't be able to stand looking at every day because it'll be too painful for you."

Taking a deep breath, John eyed Sarah reproachfully, "Well guess what Mom? It's not _**just**_ about you. _**I**_ miss Cameron just as much as you do, _**I**_ want her back just as much as you do but unlike you, I'm not just going to let her go that easily."

"You really think I just _**want**_ to let her go? If I had to kill a dozen terminators just to bring her memory back I'd do it but that's not going to happen is it? It's not as easy as that. We don't even know what triggered her memory loss or what the hell is happening with her chip. What do you want me to do? _**Fry**_ her? See if that will bring her memories back? Or…" Sarah's face turned white at her next words, "…remove her chip like she was just another machine so we can have a poke around?"

Staring at John in sudden anger, Sarah could feel all her anguish and frustrations come crashing back down on her.

"What if we damage her even more? If Alison wants to leave then we can't stop her, we shouldn't stop her. It's not fair that Cameron was bound to us by a mission that _**you**_ programmed into her. I never gave her a choice to stay or leave. I used her love for me don't you get it? _**I**_ made her stay because she was afraid I would hurt myself!"

John stood in utter shock at the pain and doubts surfacing on his mother's face. He had no idea that she had been this tied up in knots, so wrought with worry over Cameron that she was twisting past actions in her guilt ridden mind. Whatever his mother was going through he knew without a doubt that Cameron loved her unconditionally and although she may have initially come into their lives because of what he had done, Cameron had in the end broken through her restraints of her own choosing _**because**_ of her love for his mother.

"You're wrong Mom. It wasn't just about protecting you, it was also about loving you. You didn't make Cameron do anything, she chose. Why are you now taking that choice away from her?"

Giving Sarah a disgruntled frown, John locked eyes with his mother, unwilling to be the first to look away.

Sarah broke the eye contact and turned to stare out the window again, "That's just it isn't it? It's not up to us anymore or even Cameron for that matter because Cameron's not here. Alison is and if Alison wants to leave then we all have to live with that decision don't we?"

Feeling her body slump in weary tiredness at the truth of her words Sarah gave John a resigned sigh and turned to walk out of the kitchen. It wasn't up to her anymore because she wasn't going to stand in Alison's way; she was done being the great Sarah Connor deciding everything for everyone, it had brought her nothing but heartache.

* * *

"What do ya want?" Speaking into the phone Jake's face turned into a scowl at the voice on the other end as he felt his head throbbing in time to his heartbeat.

"I ain't coming back until I've got the bitch alright. Tell my boss whatever but just make sure he understands. This is all your fault you know. I work fucking nine hours a day, you do jack shit at home and you can't keep an eye on the bitch?"

Falling silent as the voice on the other end of the cell phone suddenly erupted into a full fledge screaming babble, Jake held the phone away from his ear.

"Look, shut ya yap for a minute ok. I know where she is, it's just a matter of time that the bitch will be back for her things. Once I explained to the old lady that ran the joint that I was her upset father coming to find his wayward daughter she gave me some information, although grudgingly."

Listening again at the reply, Jake rolled his eyes, "Alright already! Fucking hell. Keep on telling everyone that me and Riley are on some sort of father daughter bonding trip. For fucks sakes woman, do I have to think of everything?"

Hanging up the phone with an angry push of the button, Jake suddenly threw it against the wall where it hit with a dull thud and bits of plastic flying everywhere.

Fucking bitch! Rolling his shoulders in annoyance at the smashed cell phone on the floor, Jake groaned, now he needed to go buy a new fucking phone as well.

* * *

Sarah was sitting in the kitchen, the table filled to capacity with all sorts of weapons and related paraphernalia. Glancing towards the front entry in agitation, Sarah stifled a sigh and bent her head to concentrate on the Benelli M4 shotgun in her hands. Running the cleaning cloth over the barrel of the shotgun, Sarah glanced over towards the front door again.

"You know watching the door isn't going to make them come back any sooner right?" Derek rolled his eyes and went back to inventorying the stock on the table. Placing the grenade in his hand next to the other six carefully, he shot Sarah an exasperated look.

"I should have gone with them, or you at least. What if something happens? I never should have let John talk me into letting them go on their own. We're starting to treat this place like a holiday camp, people coming and going as they please."

Placing the shotgun on the table and throwing the cleaning towel on top of it in a fit of pique, Sarah shoved away from the table and walked over to the coffee carafe, her movement's jerky in her agitation.

"Come on Sarah relax. John's with them and besides, it's a half hour round trip."

"You know you surprise me Derek. I thought you of all people would be more uptight about letting them go on their own than I would be."

Turning to give the soldier a curious peeved stare, Sarah walked over to the sink and filled the carafe with water before going back to the coffee machine.

"What can go wrong? Riley just needs to pick up her stuff from the shelter and they'll be right back. Besides, we need to go soon if we want to make the meet."

"You know, you really shouldn't have said that, now everything's going to go wrong." Walking away from the coffee machine Sarah rubbed her face in worry, her brows furrowing in consternation.

"Do you think I should call John?"

"Sarah, stop mothering him. That boy has to learn to stand on his own two feet, how is he going to lead if he has his Mommy looking over his shoulder every five minutes?"

Noting the look of exasperation on Derek's face, Sarah faltered slightly and took her hand away from her cell phone, "I wouldn't be worried at all if Cameron wasn't…"

Derek ignored the fading words and waved a piece of paper in front of Sarah's nose, "Come on. Let's go get this over with; maybe it'll take your mind off the missing trio."

Nodding her head in silent acquiescence Sarah walked out of the kitchen and made her way to her bedroom, her thoughts falling on Cameron, John and Riley. She had a horrible feeling that Derek's words were going to come back and bite them all on the ass.

* * *

Jake held the paper in front of his face as he peered over the top inconspicuously, trying to keep an eye on the shelter entrance. Taking note of the myriad of people assembling out the front and the number of people going in and out, Jake was losing patience in staking out the place.

The old lady who was manning the counter, although friendly and understanding enough was still cautious about revealing too much information in regards to Riley. The only information that he was able to get out of the old bag and this was only after he had plied her with all of the tricks he knew, was that someone of his daughter's description had been here and that she had left some personal effects behind.

Taking his flask from out of his jacket pocket, Jake twisted off the top and poured half the contents into his coffee cup. Putting the top back on and putting the flask back in his jacket, Jake took a healthy swig as the paper rustled in front of him on the table top.

His face darkening as his thoughts turned to Riley, Jake scowled and focussed intently back on the shelter.

It was only a matter of time and the bitch would get what was coming to her.

* * *

"So, it's been a pretty full on couple of days hasn't it?"

Wincing at his inane conversation starter John grimaced and swivelled his head towards Alison sitting in the passenger seat beside him, tapping the steering wheel nervously as she raised a questioning eyebrow at his question.

"What I meant was, you're going to stay with us right? You're not planning on doing anything stupid like leave?"

Alison sighed and wished that she had gone with Riley instead of agreeing to wait here for her with John, but the girl had managed to convince her to stay behind, saying that she was only going to be five minutes. John was nice enough but she didn't really know him and she knew that he still expected her to react to him like she hadn't forgotten who he was.

"I…haven't decided." Turning away from John Alison stared out the side window pensively as she felt John's eye's boring into her.

"You can't just leave Cam…Alison, we need you." John's voice was tinged with an edge of urgency as he felt the girl's hesitancy.

"No John, you don't need _**me**_ you need Cameron and I don't remember being Cameron. If I stay, you'll all expect me to be her and I don't know if I ever will be...again." Turning back to John, Alison could see the panic he was trying to hide from her at her words.

This whole situation was a mess.

Alison had no idea if she was ever going to get her memories back and the irony of the situation wasn't lost on her either. Here she was, a machine from the future who as a machine should have total recall but now, when she needed it most, her...machine-ness was failing her.

She didn't know what she wanted to do. A part of her wanted to desperately forget everything she had learned in the past few days, wanted to go back to the safety of not-knowing because at least in the not-knowing she had been comfortably ensconced in the certainty that she was human. Now in light of everything she had discovered she didn't know if she could stay or even wanted to stay the lure of disappearing into the ether and becoming just another face amongst the many billions in the world tempting in the pretence it would provide her.

But another part of her and Alison knew with absolute certainty that this was the part that Cameron was heavily influencing in her subconscious, wanted to stay, wanted to be with the woman she loved. The idea of leaving Sarah was filling her with dread, filling her with such a profound sense of violating Cameron's desires that it was making her hang in this limbo of uncertainty.

Stay or leave. Neither of those options were particularly pleasing and she had no idea what she wanted to do.

* * *

Taking another gulp from his coffee cup, Jake tensed in sudden anticipation as he spotted Riley's thin form walking up the street towards the women's shelter. Clenching his hands in a tight rein to stop himself from running across the street and just grabbing her, Jake slowly stood up from the table and casually folded the newspaper his eyes never leaving Riley's frame.

Watching her walk up the shelter steps and inside the building, Jake moved from around the table, barely registering the other patrons sitting in the tables around him as he stepped up to the curb and waited for a break in traffic. Taking note of the direction she had walked from, Jake glanced casually around the streets and sidewalks trying to see if there was anyone else with her. Breathing a sigh of relief at not seeing anyone obvious, Jake smirked a self-assured grin, Riley was alone.

Seeing his chance as the traffic thinned slightly, Jake strolled forward and crossed the road, walking as quickly and as casually as he could between the slow moving cars. Veering off towards the right away from the women's shelter as he reached the other side, Jake continued his casual stroll down the side walk.

Reaching a side street off the main road, Jake turned left and continued down it, looking around the buildings and other pedestrians as if he was lost. Spotting a side walk railing jutting up from the ground, Jake made his way over and sat down, pulling his cell phone from his pocket in pretence of studying it. Glancing up intermittently between the phone in his hand and the people walking past him, Jake hunched his shoulders further into the collar of his jacket as he settled in to wait for Riley to walk past.

"What's taking her so long?" Turning a worried frown onto John Alison glanced back to her side mirror to see if Riley was walking towards them as she spoke.

John shrugged and looked over his shoulders to see if he could spot Riley as well. It had been well over the ten minutes that it would have taken Riley to go grab her bag and return.

"I'm going to go check." Without waiting for John's reply Alison grabbed the door handle to open the door and hopped out. Hearing the twin echo of a door closing Alison glanced over the roof of the truck to see John walking around the car towards her. About to protest that it wasn't necessary for him to come along, Alison shrugged lightly and walked down the sidewalk towards the shelter as John followed closely beside her.

"She probably just got talking to someone and lost track of time or something."

"I hope so." Turning towards John to give him a quick worried glance, Alison climbed the steps towards the front door of the shelter in agitation. She had an uneasy feeling about this. It wasn't like Riley to take her time when she knew someone was waiting on her.

"Hi Dottie," approaching the bespectacled grey haired woman behind the counter, Alison's lips turned into a wide grin at the familiar features in front of her. Since her time spent at the shelter, Dottie had become a pleasing and welcome sight, her friendly and motherly overtures easing her wary discomfort at a time of utter confusion, "How are things?"

"Alison my sweets, haven't seen you around here for a few days? Hope you're staying out of trouble?" Dottie returned Alison's grin with a wide smile of her own as she glanced over towards John standing silently at her side.

Turning towards John at Dottie's raised eyebrow Alison turned back to Dottie for introductions, "Dottie, John, John, Dottie." Seeing the raised chin from John in greeting, Alison continued, "Have you seen Riley Dottie? She was supposed to have come and pick up her stuff about 10 minutes ago."

"Riley? Yes I did. We had a brief chat on her way out the door. Said she couldn't stay for long as you were waiting for her."

Alison's face turned into a frown at Dottie's words, her concern for Riley clearly showing on her face as she turned towards John in apprehension.

"How long ago did she leave?" This time it was John who spoke, his face also creasing in concern as he broke Alison's gaze to pin Dottie with a worried frown.

"Oh, probably ten or fifteen minutes ago now I'd say. Why? Is something wrong?" Glancing shrewdly between John and Alison, Dottie knew there was something they weren't telling her but in her line of work she wasn't surprised. Having been a receptionist for a number of years and seeing the kinds of people that came through the front doors Dottie knew that trust didn't come easy and that heartache and wary scepticism was a part of their daily lives. The horror stories she had heard of abusive husbands, fathers and boyfriends were enough to make her lose her faith in humanity, never understanding how such evil could exist inside a person's soul to be able to hurt the ones they were supposed to love.

"Are you sure?" Ignoring the question Alison was starting to feel a panicking flurry in the pit of her stomach, turning back to John before Dottie could answer Alison grabbed his arm in a tight grip, "John…"

"It'll be okay Alison, I'm sure she's just gone somewhere else without thinking it's a big deal." Trying to reassure the obviously upset girl, John knew Alison didn't believe him.

"She wouldn't do that, not when she knows…"

Trailing off again as she turned back to a now concerned and eavesdropping Dottie, Alison couldn't finish her sentence, knowing that Riley wouldn't want anyone else to know of her troubled past.

"It's ok Dottie, thanks. Riley's probably back at the car as we speak. I'll see you later k?" Bestowing a weak smile onto her face and ignoring Dottie's protests at her abrupt departure, Alison gripped John's arm harder and pulled him out the doors after her. Away from Dottie's prying eyes, Alison's face changed back to its concerned frown of before.

"John, Riley wouldn't just wander off, not without telling me anyway and especially when she knows her father is still looking for her."

John rubbed his face wearily as they descended the stairs and walked as quickly as they could back to the truck.

"Do you think that her father's got something to do with this?"

"Of course he does! That man is pure evil; you have no idea what he's put Riley through. Riley would not just take off like this, if she's gone that means he got to her somehow."

Reaching the truck Alison opened the passenger door and climbed in reluctantly, her head swivelling up and down the street in a vain attempt to still try and spot her friend.

"Ok. If we assume that her father's taken her, where would he take her?" John gave Alison a brief glance as he closed the driver's door and buckled his seat belt.

"I don't…" Turning desperately worried eyes onto John, Alison paused, "…wait. Home, he would take her home. That's where he wanted to take her last time he tried this."

"And do you know where home is?" Starting the car, John checked the side mirrors for oncoming cars before easing out into the afternoon traffic.

"Sort of. She mentioned where she grew up but nothing like a street address or anything. It's about an hour drive from here."

Making a swift decision as Alison told him where to go, John glanced in the rear view mirror and seeing a break in the traffic on both sides of the road, swerved the steering wheel as hard as he could into a U-turn. Ignoring the blaring horns of the other drivers, John glanced over towards Alison again, taking note of her rigid frame and the clenching of her hands in her lap.

Pulling his cell phone from out of his jacket pocket, John hit speed dial and waited patiently as the phone rang in his ear. Hearing the code on the other end as Sarah picked up, John quickly entered the return code and took a deep breath as his mother's voice filtered through the tinny speaker phone of the mobile.

"Mom, Riley's missing and we think her father has her." Hearing his mother's violent curse on the other end at his news, John winced and glanced over towards Alison again in apprehension as she returned his wary glance and looked down at the phone in his hand as if expecting Sarah to suddenly emerge like an apparition.

"Where are you?"

Knowing that his mother was not going to like what he was going to tell her next, John took a deep breath and explained as quickly as he could the events that had led to Riley's disappearance. Hearing her curse again when he got to the part about him and Alison now driving to Riley's parent's place John gripped the hand on the steering wheel tighter.

"John, pull over and Derek and I will meet you somewhere."

"Mom we don't have time. I think I can catch up to them before her father does anything to hurt her. I doubt he'll do anything on the road, he'll wait to get her home first."

Alison remained silent as she listened to Sarah's voice on the other end continuing to order John to pull over and stop, to wait for her and Derek to reach them. Sensing that John was close to caving in to Sarah's demands, Alison deftly reached over and plucked the cell phone from John's out stretched hand. Ignoring his protests and Sarah's continued warbling, Alison pressed the end call button and an abrupt silence suddenly descended in the interior of the truck.

"Alison…"

"We don't have time to wait John; we need to get to Riley. I'll deal with Sarah when she catches up to us."

About to reply in protest again, John fell silent and his eyes swivelled abruptly downwards as the cell phone in Alison's lap started to chirp into a sudden loud chime.

Swivelling her eyes downward at the ringing phone also, Alison gritted her teeth in determination as she held the phone in front of her face. Knowing that Sarah was going to ream her out anyway for hanging up on her in the first place, Alison pressed the ignore button firmly and then switched the cell phone off.

Turning to catch John's unhappy stare in her direction Alison could only shrug and tossed the phone into the glove compartment. Sarah could be mad at them all she wanted later but now there were more urgent things to worry about. Feeling a slight twinge at the thought of Sarah being unhappy with her Alison tightened her shoulders in response and shrugged away the uncomfortable feeling settling into her stomach.

Whatever thoughts or feelings she had of Sarah didn't matter at this particular moment in time, Riley was in serious danger and that was the only thing she could focus on at the moment.

She would deal with Sarah's wrath as soon as she knew Riley was safe.

TBC...


	15. Chapter 15

**Part Fifteen**

"For fucks sake!" Sarah cursed as she jammed the disconnect button on her cell phone for the fifth time and threw it carelessly onto the dashboard of the moving truck. Glancing over to Derek with an irate frown, Sarah wove her hand through her hair in frustration.

"Still not picking up I take it?" Derek's voice was low and conciliatory as he briefly took in Sarah's haggard appearance before focussing back on the road again. Eavesdropping on Sarah's half of the conversation and then having Sarah fill in the gaps while she was trying to call John back, Derek was just as concerned as she was. It wasn't enough that they had to deal with the threat of Judgement Day and roaming terminators from the future, now they had to be embroiled in an affair that had nothing to do with them.

They had more important things to worry about than saving a girl from a shitty home life. It wasn't their concern and they should never have been involved in the first place, but knowing Sarah, this was one situation that she wasn't going to happily walk away from. Not when it involved John and especially when it involved Cameron.

"I knew I shouldn't have let them go alone, I just bloody knew it." Hitting the side door in continued frustration, Sarah could feel herself begin to panic. She didn't know enough about Riley's past or the history with the girl's home life but she knew enough from the brief encounter that she had had with the man in trying to save Cameron, that he would be a dangerous and unstable person to deal with.

In wanting to save and protect Riley Cameron was opening herself up to a danger that she would not be equipped for. Although feeling slightly mollified that John was at least with Cameron this time, knowing that she had taught her son enough to be confident in his abilities to withstand any situation he found himself in, Sarah was still not pleased that they had both decided not to wait for help.

As soon as she had heard her phone ringing Sarah had known that it wasn't going to be good, especially when her and Derek had arrived back home and the missing trio were still not back yet. Picking up the discarded phone from the dashboard in nervous energy, Sarah dialled John's cell phone again even though she knew her call wouldn't be answered. Clenching her hands around the cell phone in helpless anger Sarah hung up and stared unseeing out the side window as the scenery flashed by in a rushing blur.

"Goddamanit John…"

Hearing Sarah's soft mumble as she stared despondently out the window, Derek knew that she was more worried than mad at being hung up on. Sarah was all about control, about dealing with the situation as best she could once she learnt all of the facts. The fact that she wasn't able to control this situation was making her edgy and cranky, her overwhelming fear for Cameron and John's safety showing itself the only way she knew how, through her anger.

Giving Sarah another quick glance as he manoeuvred the car through rush hour traffic, Derek just hoped that it wasn't going to end badly.

* * *

**Warning disturbing theme of sexual abuse following, please read with discretion**

"Shut up you stupid bitch!" Taking his eyes off the road briefly Jake turned towards Riley cowering in the passenger seat and backhanded her across the cheek with a harsh slap. "This is all your fucking fault ya know. Why do ya gotta make me so mad?"

Cowering against the side passenger door, Riley tried to stifle her sobs as tears streamed down her face. Feeling her left cheek tingling at the throbbing pain running through her head, Riley hunched further into the seat as she rubbed vainly at her tears. Closing her eyes in fear Riley clenched her hands into fists as the helplessness of her situation invaded her body.

There was no way she could escape again. Once home, she would be under lock and key twenty four seven, her father able to do anything he wanted and her mother ignoring something she didn't want to see. Feeling the wracking sobs rising in her throat again, Riley put her fist against her mouth and bit down hard on to her knuckles, knowing that the sound of her crying would only anger her father more.

"Riley honey, you know daddy never wanted to hurt you. Stop crying baby, daddy loves you."

Flinching in violent reaction at the swift turn around in her father's demeanour and the false sugary sweetness to his tone, Riley tried to move away even further as Jake placed a hand onto her thigh and started to rub lightly in a soothing pattern. Stifling down the bile in her throat at the touch and shaking in fear and loathing Riley could do nothing but endure the unwanted touch in silence.

"Daddy needs you baby, you're the only person that understands me." Taking his eyes off the road briefly again, Jake's gaze raked up and down Riley's cowering form as his hand continued the light caressing on her thigh. "I love you honey and it's you and me forever, you know that. Your mother doesn't understand me but you do don't you baby? You understand what daddy needs."

Riley tried to drown out the loathsome voice as Jake continued on relentlessly, his words driving daggers of fear and hate into Riley's soul for the father that had never been a father to her. She wanted to scream, to yell and punch and flail against the unfairness of it all but she knew it was futile, this was her life and it would never end.

When she was younger, much much younger and her father had started coming into her room late at night, his breath smelling of alcohol and his heavy body weighing her down in her bed, Riley had been confused and scared. He was her father but what he was doing to her was hurting her and she had tried to struggle, tried to scream out that he was hurting her but it had been no use. Her struggles had only added fuel to his sick excitement as he continued to force her down on the bed, his hand clamping firmly over her mouth to muffle her terrified screams, his words of sick love repeating over and over in the darkened room.

Riley could remember the pain suffusing her entire body that night as she lay broken and bleeding in her bed after her father had left, the dried pool of blood coating her bed sheets and her lower body. She had wanted to get up, to clean herself, to find something to cover her nakedness but she had no energy, her limbs were like lead weights weighing her down to the mattress refusing to do anything her brain commanded. She had been lost in a fog, her small child mind trying to process something that she would never understand.

She had tried to tell her mother, tried to make her believe what had happened but after giving her a stare full of hatred, her mother had slapped her on the face and ordered her to stop telling lies. So Riley had stopped and learnt a valuable lesson as night after night her father came to tuck her in, one that wasn't taught in school books or fairy tales. If she stayed as quiet as possible and repeated what her father wanted to hear, the pain would be over much quicker for her.

Riley shuddered violently again at the horrifying memories as she fought against the bile rising in her throat once more. Feeling her skin crawl at the hand still continuing to stroke lightly on her thigh Riley wished that death would come for her, that was the only way she could escape this, the only way she would ever be free of him.

"Do you love me baby? Do you love daddy?"

Riley shuddered again at the words, shuddered at the sickening memories they evoked. Those were his favourite questions when he was touching her, pinning her down so she couldn't move. He would repeat them over and over, his brutality rising until she would give an answer that he wanted to hear.

"Yes daddy, I love you."

Riley's voice was mechanical as her mind gave in to her distressing memories and finally shut down, the tears on her face drying into splotchy patches as she stared blankly out the car window resigned to the inevitability of her fate.

She should have known that the brief happiness she had felt in Alison's company was never going to last. Happiness was a dream, a fairy tale that only existed in children's books. Her fairy tale had been over before it had even started.

* * *

After stopping at a gas station to ask for directions as they reached Riley's home town, John had parked a block away from her house and was now walking down the side walk in apprehension with Alison following beside him.

Reaching around his back under his jacket surreptitiously, John could feel the comforting weight of the solid steel gun under his sweaty palms. Patting it reassuringly to make sure it was still where he had tucked it, John gave a silent prayer hoping that he wouldn't have to use it. He could sense Alison's fear for Riley's safety as she continued to stride silently beside him, her whole body rigid and stiff trying to hide the anxiety he knew she was obviously feeling.

Glancing around his surroundings in nervous anticipation John could see rows and rows of white picket fences surrounding tidily kept lawns and two storey houses looming in the waning sunlight. Thankful that it was dinnertime and that mostly everyone would be inside, John sighed in relief as there appeared to be no one around to witness their approach.

Alison's eyes were steely as she too took in her surroundings, her heart beating over time as the fear for Riley settled itself more and more firmly in her stomach. They had lost precious time, the unknown area making John lose his way briefly on the interstate before finally finding the right turn off. After more lost time in asking for directions, Alison could feel her insides gnawing at the possibility that Riley was already hurt. Clenching her hands into fists at her sides she increased her pace. She wanted to run, to streak down the side walk in an all-out panic but John had advised caution. They didn't want to raise suspicion and if Riley's father was alerted to their rescue attempt, Riley could be in even worse trouble.

Nearing Riley's house in the now darkened street, Alison halted abruptly as she felt John's hand clamp down on her arm firmly, stopping her progress up the neatly trimmed pathway.

"Hang on a minute." Glancing furtively from side to side to see if anyone had noticed their approach, John tugged on Alison's arm and pulled her down the side of the lawn. Taking note of the lights streaming through various windows, John crouched cautiously to an open window and knelt against the side of the house his hands still on Alison's arm as she too knelt down beside him. Raising a finger to his mouth in a shushing motion he then pointed upwards towards the open window.

Alison nodded in silent understanding and started to rise up slowly with John to grip the window ledge anxiously. Peering inside Alison could immediately see that it was the living room as she took in the back of the three seater couch. Glancing around further, she noticed an armchair to her left and right that were placed in front of a fireplace. The room was well-kept and tidy noticing various picture frames on the wall and a bookshelf adorning the far left. Grimacing at the false display of family happiness Alison felt the tug on her right arm and glanced back to John who was now pointing in earnest at the right armchair. Alison's eyes widened in surprise as she finally noticed the legs sticking out from it, the rest of the body obscured by the armchair itself and an empty bottle of scotch lying haphazardly beside the sofa leg.

"Come on let's go towards the back, see if we can find an open door." Whispering softly in Alison's ear John let go of the ledge and crouched back down again making his way along the side of the house. Feeling Alison following quietly behind him John could feel the nervous sweat coating his back under his jacket. Brushing at his forehead and temples at the moisture he could feel beginning to slide down his cheek, John took a deep breath to calm his shaking nerves.

They needed to find Riley and they needed to find her fast.

* * *

"We need to get some directions. John only told me the street address." Glancing over towards Derek in the driver's seat Sarah's face was a picture of concern as she turned back to her side window and looked out again amongst the row of buildings they were driving past.

"Here, I'll pull over and you can go ask the guy in that gas station over there." Manoeuvring the car expertly into the car park, Derek let the car idle as Sarah hopped out and strode purposefully to the store entrance.

Staring out the window idly Derek couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. Sarah had been quiet and withdrawn for most of the ride after she had flung the cell phone down on to the dash in disgust again. Taking note of her rigid frame and the tenseness to her shoulders, Derek had remained quiet, lost in his thoughts as he wound his way through evening traffic. He had a feeling that something was going to go wrong and although he desperately wanted to turn the truck around and head back in the direction he had come, he knew he couldn't. John and Cameron were in trouble, or were going to be in trouble and it was their job to protect them now that Cameron wasn't Cameron.

Derek was frustrated however. Tapping his fingers lightly on the steering as he waited for Sarah to return Derek couldn't help but wish that Cameron was Cameron already. Although he had nothing against Alison, Derek was finding that he was actually beginning to miss the metal girl, which was surprising the hell out of him. Although he no longer had any ill feelings towards Cameron, Derek would've never thought that he would actually miss her in his life.

But he was. Cameron for all her stoicism was actually quite a funny person to be around, her dry sense of learned humour, especially in teasing Sarah had made him snicker on more than one occasion. Derek paused in his tapping as his thoughts suddenly registered in his brain. When did he start to think of Cameron as a person and not as a machine? Glancing uneasily towards Sarah as he spotted her exiting the gas station, Derek schooled his features into an uneasy mask. Gripping the steering wheel in consternation at his realisation, Derek turned his attention on to Sarah as she opened the passenger door.

"It's not far from here and the attendant also gave a description of John and Cameron asking the same thing about half an hour ago." Sliding into the seat Sarah glanced over towards Derek's concerned frown but let it slide, misinterpreting his concern for John and Cameron's welfare.

Reversing the truck back onto the street Derek remained silent as Sarah firmly directed him in the direction they needed to go. Sighing internally Derek silently prayed that John and Cameron and even Riley were alright, he didn't think that he had enough energy at the moment to deal with any more bad repercussions.

* * *

Riley was cold and numb, her body huddled in a foetal position as her mind tried to keep her panicking thoughts at bay. Feeling her body shivering uncontrollably at the unknown coldness Riley clenched her hands around her knees even tighter, willing the images of past abuses out of her head.

She was safe for the moment.

Upon reaching home her father had quickly and quietly grabbed her by the arm and hauled her into her bedroom, flinging her down onto her bed unceremoniously. Thinking that her punishment was at hand Riley could only cower in overwhelming fright as Jake sat down beside her and gently caressed her cheeks softly in a cruel parody of twisted love. Cringing at the touch and knowing there was nothing she could do, Riley could only endure the touch in revolted silence as she closed her eyes in acceptance only to flick them open again in surprise as she felt Jake's hand leaving her cheek and the heavy weight being lifted from her bed.

Glancing around cautiously to see what her father was up to, Riley had shivered again in fear as Jake stopped on the threshold of the door and with a quiet mumble, "I need to check your mother first," had turned and closed the bedroom door after him. Hearing the key turn in the lock was just another reminder that there was no escape.

And now here she was, safe and unharmed for the time being. Knowing that she should get up from the bed to at least attempt an escape, Riley let the thought slither away as fast as it had entered her head.

It was no use. She had already tried and she had failed. Her father would never let her out of his sight again, not when he now knew that she wanted to leave. Before when she had managed her escape she had played the game of the loving and dutiful daughter even though her throat had nearly gagged in revulsion at her pretend words, but it had worked. Her father had become less observant, less controlling, allowing her to go places on her own briefly without either her mother or him accompanying her and she had used that to her advantage, building up his trust until she could find a way to leave. Now however there would be no second chances, he wouldn't be easily fooled again.

Rocking silently on the bed lost in her own thoughts Riley could only hope that death would claim her, it would be preferable to the life she had waiting ahead of her.

* * *

John stuck his head around the corner and glanced down the hallway cautiously. Not seeing anyone, he gestured for Alison who was waiting behind him to follow in his steps. Stepping as quietly as they could into the hallway and walking down cautiously, stopping briefly to open the doors they saw along the way, John was relieved that they had managed to enter the house without being spotted.

Luck was on their side for the moment, the back door had been left unlocked and since entering the house he hadn't seen Riley's father anywhere. Unsure of who the person was slouched on the sofa in the living room, John could only guess it was probably Riley's mother.

Glancing over towards Alison who was quietly opening the door opposite him, John came to a stop at the last door in the hallway. Placing his hand gently on the door knob, John twisted and was surprised when the door refused to open. Jerking it briefly again, John turned towards Alison and motioned for her to come over.

"This one's locked." Whispering as quietly as he could, John stepped out of the way and gestured at the door knob.

"What do you want me to do?" Giving John a confused frown Alison could only stare in bewilderment at John then to the door knob.

"Break it open." Muttering in exasperation John reached over to grab Alison's right hand and then placed it firmly on the knob. "You're made of metal Alison, you can do things that I can't."

Alison continued to stare silently at John in confusion and then realisation slowly dawned on her as she turned to look down at her hand on the door knob. She was made of metal and being made of metal made her stronger than a normal human being.

Taking a deep breath and hoping that she could do it, Alison gripped tighter on to the door knob and twisted, feeling an overwhelming relief course through her as the knob came apart in her hand. Giving John a quick celebratory smile, Alison pushed the door open slowly revealing Riley's cowering form lying on the bed.

Rushing inside at the sight of her friend, Alison could hear John following behind her but ignored him for the time being. Riley needed her.

"Riley...Riley, we've come to get you." Kneeling down beside the bed, Alison shook Riley gently on the shoulder trying to get her attention. Taking note of the blankness in Riley's eyes as she stared unseeing in front of her Alison turned a worried frown onto John as Riley remained unresponsive.

"John..."

John frowned at the worry on Alison's face and moved closer to the bed to stand beside Alison, taking note of Riley's huddled form on the bed.

"Riley, come on, we've got to get out of here before your father comes back." Reaching down John gently placed his hand on the girl's shoulder and shook her. Not getting a response as well from the still lying girl, John could feel his anxiety reaching an all time high. He had never considered the possibility that Riley wasn't going to be able to leave on her own two feet.

Glancing at the door in concern then down to Alison still kneeling by the bed and then lastly to Riley, John came to a swift decision.

"You need to carry her Alison, we don't have time to wait for her to..."

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

John stiffened at the sudden roaring voice in the silent bedroom, startling him enough to make him jump slightly as he turned fearful eyes towards the bedroom door. Feeling Alison slowly rising to her feet beside him, John gulped in apprehension as Jakes solid form came into view his bulk blocking the entrance and the only exit out of the bedroom.

Reaching behind his back, John reached for the gun tucked into his jeans and gripping the butt firmly, pulled it out and aimed it towards Jake's chest.

"We're taking her with us." John's voice was firm as his eyes narrowed in determination as he clenched the butt of the gun tighter in his grip, willing the shaking in his body to subside at the fierce glare directed at him and Alison.

"Like fuck you are." Stepping over the threshold and into the bedroom, Jake slipped his hand inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a nine millimetre, the glint of metal shining deadly in the bedroom as he raised it towards John. "Put your gun down and step the fuck away from the bed _**boy**_."

Staring at the stand-off in silent horror, Alison's gaze remained riveted onto Jake hearing his sneering words directed at John.

"You put your gun down, we're taking Riley with or without your co-operation." John wondered briefly if he would have the nerve to follow through with his words. He had only shot one man in his life and that was an experience he didn't want to repeat. "Alison get Riley."

Alison froze in indecision until John's voice boomed at her again to do as she was told. Bending down, Alison stretched out her arms towards Riley's still huddled form on the bed, but froze as she heard the cocking of a gun in the tense silence.

"I wouldn't if I was you. I don't give a shit about any of you and I'm willing to shoot. The police will just think I was trying to stop intruders in my house." Moving closer, Jake aimed the gun at Alison's head this time, his eyes narrowing into slits.

John let the safety off the gun and tensed in rigid anticipation as Jake moved closer, his eyes never leaving the man or the gun in front of him. "We're not leaving without her."

"Then I see we got us a problem don't we? Cause I sure as hell ain't letting you leave with her."

"We'll see about that."

John could feel the relief swarm through his entire body, his brain registering his mother's words as Sarah strode purposefully into the bedroom, her gun trained onto Jake. Relaxing his hold on the gun in his hand, John gave his mother a brief reassuring smile as she glanced towards him.

"It's over Jake, we're taking Riley." Sarah's voice was strong and determined as she kept her gun aimed at Jake but allowed her eyes to roam briefly towards John and then Alison. Seeing the girl standing there silently beside the bed, intact and unhurt, Sarah could only sigh in relief. Cameron was ok.

"Not this time you ain't bitch." Tightening his finger on the trigger Jake took aim and fired.

Time slowed to a crawl as everybody in the room froze, the rapport of the gun flaring loudly in the now silent room.

Alison could only watch in silent horror as she followed the slowly moving bullet from Jakes gun heading towards Sarah, her eyes tracking it's movements like a heat seeking missile. She knew she should do something but her feet remained rooted to the spot as the bullet moved increasingly closer to Sarah's chest.

Like an electrical current running through a live wire cable, Alison felt something shift inside her head, an awareness of something buried deep inside herself suddenly begin to awaken. Feeling unused senses begin to stir and an overwhelming feeling of fear and panic rushing to the surface Alison stiffened as cascading waves of images suddenly bombarded her from out of nowhere.

An image of her standing hesitantly outside Sarah's bedroom door in the early hours of the morning, another one of Sarah hurt and bleeding on a makeshift table, yet another one of her being cradled gently in Sarah's lap and another one of warm lips and a soft body.

Snapshot after snapshot weaving and interweaving themselves inside her head as memories of a life she knew came flooding back like a torrent of wild untamed water. Feeling time speed up again as the sudden realisation of who she was hit her full force with enough strength to make her stumble slightly, Alison's eyes phased from its usual warm brown to a hazy red.

Her name was Cameron and the woman she loved with her entire being was in mortal danger.

Snapping her head towards Sarah again, Cameron made to move but her legs felt like weighted steel, her limbs heavy and lethargic as she watched the bullet impact with a sickening crunch into Sarah's chest tearing through flesh and bone. Seeing the woman being flung backwards by the force of the bullet, Cameron screamed in outraged pain and fury as she ran over towards Jake, briefly registering John's distant cry of denial in the same breath.

"Noooooooooooooo!"

Reaching for the gun in Jake's outstretched hand, Cameron tore it from his grasp and crumpled it into a ball of metal, flinging it negligently to the side as she moved closer. Grabbing Jake by the throat, Cameron lifted him easily off his feet and with Jake kicking and struggling to get free threw him as hard as she could through the bedroom wall. Giving the man sized whole a brief glance to make sure that Jake wouldn't be getting up Cameron dismissed him from her thoughts instantly and turned towards Sarah.

Seeing John's crouching form beside his mother and the ever growing circle of red underneath Sarah's prone form, Cameron walked over hesitantly, her mind unable to comprehend the sight she was seeing before her.

Sarah was dying and it was all her fault.

TBC...


	16. Chapter 16

_Authors note: I apologise that this update has taken so long to get here, but the muse really wasn't working with me I'm afraid no matter how hard I tried. I do want to thank everyone though for their awesome comments so far, even while I've been on an unscheduled hiatus, the positive encouragement really has made me want to keep writing and posting. _

_Hopefully going forward, the updates won't take as long as this one did but it will still be pretty slow compared to previous updates as I try and juggle my creativity with life's never-ending demands on my time._

_This is dedicated to my girl, who blesses my life everyday by just being in it._

* * *

**Part Sixteen**

Watching the tense stand-off with trepidation, John could feel the anger rolling of Cameron's stilted form in front of him as she stood before the doctor in the small hospital room, her gun pressing firmly against his temple.

"You will save Sarah."

Swallowing away the fear at the icy coldness to Cameron's voice as she bore unrelenting eyes onto the quaking doctor, John glanced over towards Derek standing opposite him over his mother's still prone form on the hospital bed and then quickly to Riley who was crouched in a huddled form against the far wall.

After leaving Riley's parents place with a flurry of panicked activity, they had had no choice but to come here. With no Charlie to turn to for medical help and their knowledge limited to cuts and scrapes, the hospital was the only option they had left. With luck on their side finally, they had been able to enter the hospital grounds unnoticed, securing themselves in a back room away from foot traffic as Cameron went in search of a doctor that would save his mother's life.

"Cameron, that's not helping the situation." Walking over towards Cameron, John placed a gentle hand onto the outstretched arm and gripped firmly. His insides still shaking from witnessing his mother being shot, John knew they didn't have much time left. She had already lost so much blood and with each passing second was possibly losing more.

Turning towards the trembling doctor before him with pleading eyes, John felt the relief invade his body as Cameron finally lowered the gun but remained standing menacingly beside him, "Please, you need to help us, my...my mother, she's...she's been shot."

Seeing the doctor glance over towards the bed in uncertainty and then back to Cameron's still fierce glare in front of him, John could feel his panic beginning to return, knowing that they didn't have time to cajole a reluctant doctor to help. If he wasn't going to help, John would allow (if he could even stop her) Cameron to do whatever was necessary to save his mother.

Sighing in profound relief as the doctor stiffened his shoulders and with one final wary glance to Cameron, made his way over to the bed.

"If she dies, you die."

John stiffened at the words but made no comment, knowing that he would be unable to do anything about the very real threat in Cameron's tone. Gripping her by the arm again as she made to follow the doctor John tugged insistently at a reluctant Cameron until she turned her icy gaze onto him.

"Come on Cameron, just leave the doctor to do what needs to be done. You'll just make him more nervous if you hover over him."

Cameron continued to stare in unrelenting silence until with an infinitesimal loosening of her features allowed John to pull her away to stand in front of Riley's still huddled form on the floor. Glancing back towards the bed again in uncertainty, where the doctor was now bustling around in urgency over Sarah's form with Derek helping where he could, Cameron forced her concerned gaze away back onto Riley.

"Are you ok Riley?"

Riley glanced up at the words, her face a mixed sorrow of confusion and sadness as she took in Cameron's smooth features. Since arriving at the hospital she had been in a daze. It was all her fault that they were here and that Ali...no, Cameron was now standing in front of her. Even though she knew that it was rightfully so that Cameron had returned, she still missed her friend.

Waking up in her bedroom from her self induced stupor, Riley had been horrified to find the chaotic tableau in front of her. If she hadn't come into Cameron's life, Sarah wouldn't be hurt and now in need of urgent medical attention. Avoiding Cameron's gaze with a guilty conscience, Riley could only nod in affirmative silence.

Cameron stood uncertainly looking down as she noticed Riley looking everywhere but at her. She didn't know what to do. With her memories back, she wasn't Alison anymore but now she wasn't really just Cameron either. Alison's memories and emotions were still floating around in her head and although she was aware that they weren't hers, it was difficult to separate the girl that was to the who she was now. She knew she needed to comfort Riley but her concern at the moment was for Sarah. Whatever the girl huddled before her was feeling, she didn't have time to figure it out. Sarah was her main priority and until she was sure that Sarah was safe, she had no time for anyone else.

Stiffening her shoulders at her thoughts and glancing back towards the bed again, Cameron could feel herself being torn in two. She could feel the part that was Alison wanting to desperately help her friend but the part that was Cameron, the part that was her, wanted desperately to go to Sarah, to will her to safety by sheer force alone. Feeling her insides trembling at the very real idea of Sarah possibly dying, Cameron squelched the thought as fast as it had entered her mind. Making her way over to the bed like a magnet being pulled by the force of her overwhelming concern for Sarah, Cameron halted hesitantly beside the bed, looking down at the sight before her with a sickening dread.

Sarah's eyes were closed and her face was deathly white, a stark contrast to the red surrounding her chest area as the doctor frantically worked on stopping the blood loss and finding the bullet. Ignoring everything around her except for Sarah's face, Cameron was lost in a sea of newly awakened emotions. She had thought before that she had understood what human emotions were but now after having lost herself completely in the person that had been Alison, Cameron could feel the tidal wave of her newly discovered emotions washing over and through her.

The sensation of drowning, of being pulled under and getting lost in the overwhelming outpouring of her feelings for Sarah was so mind numbing in its intensity that Cameron could feel her synapses begin to fire off little sparks intermittently inside her head.

Sarah was hurt, possibly dying and it was all her fault. If she hadn't lost her memories, if she hadn't reverted to Alison, if she hadn't been so completely wrapped up in being human and losing the sense of who and what she was, Sarah wouldn't now be lying in a hospital bed while a still frightened looking doctor held her life in his hands. The guilt of not having saved Sarah was eating at her, making her sick with worry and dread.

Cameron stopped abruptly in her thinking and froze, her entire body rigid and hard as steel as her mind fully registered the feelings and thoughts swirling inside herself. She had been so lost in her desires for Sarah, so completely absorbed in the 'Mother of all Destiny' that she had become weak, become a liability instead of being the asset the Connor's desperately needed in their fight against Skynet.

Her wants and desires had been a selfish need, a need that was driven by an incomplete understanding of what it was to be human, what it was to feel and love and want. But she was beginning to understand now, beginning to realise with crystal clarity that human emotions were sometimes a curse, a curse that had incapacitated her in her mission to protect Sarah.

Being Alison had opened Cameron's eyes, the feelings and experiences that the girl had gone through in the past few months a constant reel of pictures and sensations running through her systems. She felt more, understood more and it was this understanding that was driving her to the edge of her sanity.

She was a machine, a cybernetic organism designed to stop Skynet, to protect John and that was all she should have been. Machines shouldn't evolve, shouldn't become something they weren't meant to be, weren't meant to even have an inkling about. But in her arrogance, in her ignorance of thinking that she would and could comprehend human emotions, Cameron had become lost. Her focus had been on her own happiness, her own wants, needs and desires that she had let John down, had let Sarah down and in the process had nearly destroyed humanity's only hope for survival. If Sarah died, Cameron was sure John would never forgive her, her inability to protect his mother, her weakness in giving in to the only thing she had ever wanted for herself, Sarah.

Looking over briefly to John taking in his worried frown as he continued to stare in total concentration in the direction of the hospital bed and then back to Sarah's still white face, Cameron knew what she had to do now.

To protect Sarah and to protect humanity, she had to let Sarah go.

* * *

Sarah stood still taking in the bleak surroundings around her, her eyes roaming in quick succession as she scanned the horizon feeling the nausea rise in her throat as she took in the destruction before her.

There was nothing but carnage, rubble and a bleak greyness pervading the air. Everything was still around her, not a wisp of wind could be felt and the silence of her surroundings was starting to eat its way into her nerves. Everywhere she looked she could see toppled buildings, ghostly, hollow reminders of humanity's vain arrogance in thinking they were unbeatable, unstoppable in having any force strong enough to wipe them from existence. Her nostrils wrinkled distastefully as the smell of smoke, decay and hopelessness filled her senses.

This was the future she had been running from, the future she had tried desperately to stop. The world as she knew it ceased to exist, replaced by the harsh and stark reality of what she was seeing.

She had failed and now John's future held nothing but the continuous struggle to survive, to fight against machines that were seemingly unstoppable.

Sarah took in her surroundings again as the weight of her failure settled itself heavily on to her shoulders making her stumble slightly as the enormity of her failure to stop Skynet ate its way into her soul. Grappling frantically at a steel beam jutting up from the charred ground under her feet to steady herself, Sarah shook her head slightly to dispel the emptiness inside her.

"Sarah."

Swerving her head around at the sudden sound of her name, Sarah stood in shocked silence as the figure moved closer, her eyes unable to believe what they were seeing as the figure walked ever closer to her.

"Kyle?"

Sarah winced as the word fell from her lips in shock into the still silence, the echo of her voice bouncing around the eerie landscape before her. Gripping the steel beam in her hand as tightly as she could, Sarah began to move back hesitantly as Kyle Reese came to a full stop in front of her.

"You're not real, you're a machine. I saw you die Kyle."

Kyle stood in silence taking in Sarah's agitation, his bearing rigid and stern as he watched Sarah slowly backing away from him.

"This is a dream, it's got to be, it can't be real. I'm not supposed to see the future and you're not here…you're…"

"This is all your fault."

Sarah halted mid-rambling at the sudden cutting words, her entire body frozen at the sneering disdain she could see on Kyle Reese's face directed towards her.

"All this," Kyle swept a hand across the landscape as he stalked closer, his face now a mask of unbridled anger, "is _**your fault**_."

"How _**could**_ you Sarah? How could you _**betray **_us like that? Betray humanity by loving a…loving a…_**machine**_?"

Sarah's whole body remained frozen as Kyle's anger poured off him in waves, taking in his tense frame, heavy breathing and his fists clasped tightly at his sides as he came to an abrupt stop in front her, his nostrils flaring as he tried to rein in his emotions.

Sarah could feel shame coursing through her body and an undeniable guilt settling heavily onto her shoulders as she absorbed Kyle's angry accusations.

Kyle was right.

She had betrayed humanity.

She had fallen in love with Cameron and this was the price that John would have to pay.

Feeling her insides heave against the thought of John suffering at her own selfish needs, Sarah turned away, stumbling slightly as she tried to avoid Kyle Reese's condemnation of her actions.

"Look at her Sarah, look at who you lie down with every night."

Sarah's head snapped up suddenly at the words her eyes tracking towards Kyle as she followed his outstretched hand to see Cameron fighting off to the side.

"Cameron…"

Seeing Cameron swing her head around at her name, Sarah could only gasp in horror at the wounds she could see on the girl's face a grotesque mask of shining metal through melted human flesh and blood, her eyes flashing a deep crimson red.

"Sarah."

Sarah caught the pleading tone in Cameron's voice as she defended herself against the soldiers surrounding her, her arms, legs and body sustaining more and more injuries as she tried to hold off her attackers.

"Cameron…" Panicking now as she moved to step closer to Cameron, Sarah's vision was suddenly blocked by Kyle's looming form in front of her as he grabbed her by the arms in a fierce grip, his fingernails digging into her skin painfully.

"Even now Sarah, when you can see humanity is all but wiped out and see for yourself our fight against these machines, you still care for her? Still care for the very thing that caused all this?"

"Kyle please," Sarah was frantic now as she saw the swarms of soldiers advancing relentlessly on to Cameron, each strike, cut and bullet marring Cameron's delicate features, riddling her clothes with holes and blood as Cameron did nothing to fight back, did nothing to protect herself, "they're hurting her!"

Struggling against Kyle's fingers digging into her arm even more painfully, Sarah struck out, her fists hitting his chest and arms as she tried to get free.

"She's a machine Sarah, she can't be hurt remember? There's hundreds more where she came from, thousands even and they've all been programmed with one thing in mind. To kill and destroy all humans."

Sarah stopped struggling as the scene in front of her suddenly changed. Cameron was still standing in front of her, her human body damaged and broken beyond repair but now instead of being surrounded by soldiers attacking her, there was an army of terminators standing behind her. The metal from the thousands of machines she could see glinting heavily in the waning light as their red eyes blinked menacingly in her direction.

"Sarah…you, you have to stop me, stop us. I, I can't protect you…"

Hearing Cameron's forlorn voice and the desperate edge to her words as she turned briefly around to glance back at the army of terminators waiting behind her and then back towards Sarah again, Sarah felt her chest clench painfully at the sight.

Cameron wasn't a machine, not anymore. She would always be the girl who had stolen her heart regardless of what she was made of and from. Cameron was Cameron and whatever doubts she had had, whatever guilt she had never managed to reconcile herself with, Sarah knew with a soul deep certainty that she would never allow Cameron to be destroyed, never allow anyone to hurt or damage her. She would fight Kyle Reese, a thousand others and even herself to protect Cameron if needed.

As soon as the thoughts entered Sarah's head, the vision before her suddenly changed again and she now found herself standing in the backyard of the house they had lived in in the present, before moving out to the remote location they were now staying at. All the lights were on in the inside, their brightness shining out into the dark night, dispersing the surrounding darkness wherever they touched.

Sarah hovered hesitantly on the threshold between the light and the shadows, the brightness before her making her eyes wince as she took in movement in the interior of the house. Making her way cautiously to an open window but still remaining out of sight, Sarah spotted John lounging on the sofa, remote in hand as he flicked idly through the channels. Glancing towards his right, Sarah could see Cameron sitting stiffly on the other sofa, a look of restrained suffering on her features as she heard John's low voice drift out to her on the night wind but not loud enough to hear what he was saying.

Seeing herself sitting calmly next to Cameron with a look of amused affection directed towards the girl, Sarah inhaled sharply, seeing all the love she felt for Cameron shining from her eyes, softening her features and making her appear younger than she actually was.

It was a picture of domestic bliss and Sarah remembered this exact period in her memories with startling clarity. It was after she had finally given in to her feelings for Cameron and before Skynet had reasserted its ugliness back into their lives. She remembered John was trying to explain to Cameron on the finer points of channel surfing, whereas Cameron was trying to get her point across that she had access to all the channel listings and could tell him exactly what was on what channel at any given time if he would only let her. Their constant bickering back and forth at the time had made her feel happier than she had ever been in her lifetime, the innocence of the moment a soothing balm to her otherwise troubled existence.

"You never looked this happy when you were with me."

Sarah turned her head in sudden startled awareness at the voice coming from her left side, seeing Kyle Reese standing placidly next to her as he too took in the scene through the open window.

"That's because I was trying to stay alive for most of the time I knew you Kyle." Sarah's voice was dry as she turned her head back to the window, her eyes drinking in the wonderful sight of Cameron's relaxed visage even through her frustration at John's continued flicking through the channels in rapid succession. "Why are you here again?"

"You tell me Sarah, this is your dream remember?"

"So before? When you were being all Mr G.I Joe and frothing at the mouth? That was me manifesting my guilt over loving Cameron?"

"It appears so doesn't it?"

Sarah sighed loudly, closing her eyes in resignation at the quiet agreement. She knew that she loved Cameron, loved her with an aching intensity that left her breathless at times and with everything that they had gone through for her to even acknowledge that fact to herself, Sarah knew she was beyond denying it, couldn't even possibly deny it anymore even if she wanted to.

But she also knew that even after having acknowledged and accepted her feelings for Cameron; she had never fully been comfortable with it. Her love for Cameron had been warring constantly with her guilt over loving a metal girl that had been created by the most malevolent entity on this planet, an entity that was hell bent on destroying all of humanity just because it could.

"So what now Sarah?"

Sarah jerked her head up again at the quiet question having forgotten Kyle was still standing next to her as she lost herself in her internal musings.

"I don't, I don't know what you mean?"

Raising an arched eyebrow in question, Sarah saw Kyle jerk his chin at the house and then looking behind him. Following his gaze, Sarah shivered involuntarily as the scene from earlier manifested itself again in front of her, Cameron standing in front of thousands of terminators, half broken and damaged, begging her to destroy her because she couldn't save Sarah from her inevitable fate.

"Destroy her or love her. It's your choice Sarah."

* * *

"Why haven't you been in to check on Mom?"

Cameron stiffened at the accusatory tone to John's words as the front door closed with an angry click behind her and she felt John's rigid form coming to a stop beside her on the porch. Choosing to remain silent, Cameron masked her features into a bland smoothness as she turned towards John's angry glare and tilted her head in acknowledgement of his question.

"Don't play the machine with me Cameron; it's not going to work this time. Why haven't you been in to check on Mom?"

John drew in a frustrated and angry breath as Cameron continued to watch him in silence, her face a solid marble, expressionless and smooth. Since the initial depositing of Sarah in her bed the night of their return to the house and making sure that she was comfortable, Cameron had withdrawn into herself, avoiding everything and everyone as she walked around the perimeter and the house like a silent sentinel.

It had been a week since they had been back and although his mother was recovering from the near fatal bullet wound just above her right breast, she still wasn't fully conscious yet. Doped up on morphine to dull the pain Sarah had been tossing and mumbling in her sleep, her ragged breaths calling out for Cameron, the aching plea tugging at his heart strings as he tried to soothe his mother in her troubled dreams.

John was baffled and annoyed. He knew Cameron's memories had returned knew that Alison was gone and that everything was back to the way they should be but looking at the silent and expressionless girl standing still in front of him, John wasn't even sure anymore if it really was Cameron. She was too stiff, too rigid and icy in her demeanour. Her frame showcasing a tenseness that was reminiscent of the first time he had met her, a machine that had only one mission in mind, to protect him and stop Skynet at all costs.

"Cameron?" John waited expectantly as Cameron gave him one last impenetrable stare and then turned back to the front lawn in front of her, her expression still icy and cold.

Tilting her head as if concentrating on a faraway sound, Cameron's eyes flashed blue once then returned to their normal brown. "Sarah is fine. She is sleeping and does not need me to check in on her. Her breathing is normal and her body is functioning at an acceptable level as her body is recovering from a bullet wound."

John sighed as he palmed his face in frustration at Cameron's mechanical relay of his mother's condition.

"That's not what I meant and you know it Cameron. Why haven't you been in to see her since we got back? You know, even Alison would have gone to see how she was."

Silence reigned as Cameron stiffened imperceptibly at the continued accusation in John's voice.

"I am not Alison John."

John bit his lip in continued anger and frustration at Cameron's words. He knew the girl understood him, knew that she was being obtuse on purpose, feigning her lack of understanding. His mother was hurt and she needed the girl, had been crying out for her in her sleep on a continual basis and John knew with Cameron's fine hearing that she would have heard his mother's pleas as well but had chosen to ignore them. And this was what was pissing him off. Regardless of what Cameron was going through in having her memories returned to her, his mother needed her and she wasn't there to comfort her.

"What's going on Cameron? Why are you avoiding my mother? This isn't like you."

"What am I _**like**_John?" Turning to face John again, Cameron gripped one hand on the porch railing, her expressionless features belying the ragged and confusing emotions running through her entire body.

"I am a machine sent from the future to protect you and to destroy Skynet. The name I was given is Cameron Phillips and yet that means nothing, Cameron Philips doesn't exist and neither does Alison. I am designed to kill, built to infiltrate and destroy. I am nothing but metal and wires and yet I feel. I am an anomaly, I shouldn't exist and yet I do, a paradox hidden inside this human form."

Turning to give John an impenetrable stare, Cameron could feel the wood underneath her fingers giving as she felt the helplessness, the anger and confusion she was feeling rising to the surface.

"So tell me John, what am I _**like**_?"

Silence reigned as Cameron's words fell into the tense stand-off between them, her features carefully controlled as she studied John intently, hiding her desperate desire to have an answer to a question that she had no answer to.

She didn't know what she was like, she didn't even know who she was anymore. Cameron, Alison, terminator, machine. She was all of those and yet none of those really. Why could John not understand? If she didn't know who she was, how was she supposed to protect them all?

Turning away at John's baffled features and his slack jawed surprise at her vehement question, Cameron walked away, her shoulders stiff and her footsteps heavy. She had had enough with human emotions, she didn't want to think, she didn't want to feel. All she wanted was to be a machine and to continue with her mission. It was easier and less complicated and if she tried hard enough, she could even ignore the pounding ache that was streaming through her insides as her body revolted against her thoughts. The need to be with Sarah, to hold her, touch her and visually see for herself that she really was going to be ok, a constant battering at her overwhelmed senses.

"You should never have sent me back John."

John stiffened as Cameron's words drifted softly in the silent night towards him, watching her walk away into the shadows. How was he supposed to fix everything now? Could he even fix everything? He wasn't equipped to deal with a sentient terminator with self-doubt. Cursing his future-self at sending back a terminator that would eventually fall in love with his mother, John gritted his teeth in anger and turned back towards the front door.

If he could, he would so be kicking his future-self's ass right about now.

* * *

"You should go in."

Cameron stiffened at the words, her hearing not having caught Riley's silent approach behind her as she stood frozen in front of Sarah's bedroom door, her entire concentration focused on Sarah's erratic breathing and the weak beating of the woman's heart through the piece of wood that separated her from Sarah.

Turning towards Riley, Cameron masked her features and made to walk pass the girl now leaning against the wall as she waited for Cameron's reply.

"Sarah needs you."

Halting at the simple words in the semi-darkened hallway, being lit by the light coming in through the windows from the full moon outside, Cameron turned towards Riley again, taking in the nervousness to the girl's frame as she played with her pyjama sleeves unconsciously.

"I make you nervous now. You are scared of me."

Cocking her head to the side, Cameron continued to study Riley silently, wondering if the girl would deny something that she could obviously see.

"I'm not scared of you Alis…Cameron, nervous yes but not scared."

Startled at the soft admittance, Cameron backed away a step as she continued to study Riley in confusion, "Why?"

"Why what? Why am I not scared of you or why am I nervous?" Seeing the look of confusion on Cameron's face, Riley moved away from the wall and walked slowly towards Cameron, her hands reaching for the terminators arms to grip them gently as she came to a full stop in front of her.

"Yes."

Riley smiled at the confusing answer, knowing that Cameron meant yes to both questions. Taking her hand from Cameron's right arm, Riley lifted it slowly towards Cameron's right cheek and stroked the smooth skin she could feel under her fingers.

"I'm not scared of you Cameron because you're my friend. Whether or not you remember being Alison, I do and I know you would never hurt me. You're the one person in this world that has ever been nice to me, who has only ever treated me with kindness since the first moment we met."

Cameron remained still at the touch, allowing Riley's fingers to graze her cheeks softly, almost reverently as she stared down into deep blue eyes, taking in the girl's soft words in the silence of the night.

"And…I'm nervous because I don't know if you remember everything we've been through together. I don't know if because of who you are now, you'll remember who you were."

Stepping closer into Cameron's personal space, Riley could feel herself getting lost in the brown orbs gazing down at her in concentrated study. She knew that Cameron wasn't for her and the fact that Cameron was a machine sent from the future was inconsequential to her as well. She had known Cameron as Alison first and it was Alison that she had come to love. Now that Cameron wasn't Alison anymore, it didn't mean that she could just turn her emotions off, she was still in love with the girl and regardless of her head knowing that Cameron belonged with Sarah, her heart wasn't ready to just let go yet.

"Riley…"

"Shhhh, it's ok Cameron. I know. I know that you're not mine and you never will be. Just…just let me say goodbye to Alison."

Leaning her head closer Riley placed her lips against Cameron's feeling the softness yielding under her mouth as she snaked her arms around the taller girl's shoulders, pulling her closer against her body as she allowed herself to get lost in her dreams of Alison.

Cameron remained frozen in place, her emotions doing a confused somersault as she felt Riley's lips against her own, felt the girl pulling her closer against her body. Cameron could feel Riley's heart beating wildly in her chest as her lips parted slightly, allowing Riley's tongue to enter, to twine softly and gently against her own.

It was…different…kissing Riley in comparison to kissing Sarah.

The softness was still the same but the desire, the tingling along her spine and inside her body she felt every time she was kissing Sarah was missing. There was an aching gap inside her chest that yearned constantly to feel Sarah touching her, kissing her and was still missing as she felt Riley deepen the kiss.

"Riley…" Pulling away gently Cameron held the girl at arms' length, studying her face intently. She could feel Alison responding, could feel Alison's emotions fighting against her own. Even though Alison was no longer inside her, it was hard to dismiss memories associated with emotions she had felt while she was gone.

"Cameron?"

Turning her head towards the croaky voice barely heard in the silence, Cameron's features turned to one of alarmed consternation at the sight of a ruffled and weak Sarah propped against the side of the bedroom door, her hand holding her chest as she tried to gasp in ragged breaths. Taking note of the whiteness to Sarah's features and the look of dismay mingled with something else that Cameron couldn't quite decipher, Cameron hastily let go of Riley's arms and made her way towards Sarah, seeing the woman swaying dangerously as she got closer.

"Sarah!" With a startled cry, Cameron lunged forward managing to catch Sarah's limp body just in time as she pitched forward, passed out from either the wound she was suffering through or the scene she had caught earlier.

Cradling Sarah's limp body against hers like a precious cargo, Cameron gave Riley one last glance and made her way through the door back into the bedroom to place Sarah gently in the middle of the mattress. Running her eyes briefly over Sarah's body, her programs taking note of Sarah's temperature and heartbeat, Cameron relaxed marginally at the steady rise and fall of Sarah's chest. Tucking the blankets around the woman's still form, Cameron could feel her emotions settling as some colour returned to Sarah's cheeks.

Drinking in the sight before her as if to memorise the image of a sleeping Sarah, Cameron allowed her fingers to stray to Sarah's cheeks, stroking the soft skin gently as she marvelled at the little electric currents she could feel travelling from her fingertips to where they were touching Sarah's skin, continuing up along her arm and spreading throughout her entire body.

Taking in a deep breath, an action that she didn't even realise she was doing, Cameron pulled her fingers away from Sarah's cheek as if burnt, her fingers clenching tightly as she tried to will away the sensations still travelling throughout her body. Taking in one last glance, Cameron turned away forcefully and walked out of the bedroom, the closing of the door behind her the only evidence she had ever been in there.

Glancing towards Riley who was now standing hesitantly opposite her, Cameron shook her head minutely at the unvoiced question in Riley's features, Sarah was ok for now. Not wanting to invite unnecessary conversation, Cameron turned away and walked back down the hallway towards the stairs, the previous kiss with Riley all but forgotten in her weakness at allowing herself to feel Sarah against her skin.

If she was to protect Sarah from further harm, she needed to be stronger. She needed to forget all about human emotions and concentrate on the only reason for her being here in the first place.

Protect John, stop Skynet. Everything else had no meaning in her existence.

TBC…


End file.
